12. Pain phenotypes in rheumatoid arthritis
Keywords:
Types of pain; central sensitization; assessment
Description:
Increasing evidence suggests that pain phenotypes other than nociceptive or inflammatory pain may exist or develop in patients with inflammatory rheumatoid arthritis, such as neuropathic-like pain or central sensitization pain. Since these pain types do not respond well to classic anti-inflammatory pain treatment, it is important to be able to identify different types of pain in patients with arthritis and to investigate their consequences for physical and mental health outcomes in daily clinical practice. In this project we examined the prevalence of difference pain types in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in daily clinical practice and cross-sectional and longitudinal associations with clinical and patient-reported treatment outcomes. The project has resulted in a new and brief self-reported measure of generalized pain hypersensitivity, the generalized pain questionnaire (GPQ). Future studies will focus on further validating this instrument by means of objective quantitative sensory testing.
Partners:
Department of Rheumatology, Medisch Spectrum Twente
Duration:
2015- present