Quality of life assessed with Short Form 36 – a comparison between two populations with long-term musculoskeletal pain disorders

A field study on marching band members' workload assessment

BACKGROUND

Marching band activities consist of both physically and cognitively demanding tasks. The demands that this activity has on players has largely been unstudied.

OBJECTIVE

The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of players' experience level, role, and gender on the workload of marching band players via a field study.

METHODS

Surveys were issued during one game day to the Oregon State University Marching Band (OSUMB) in the fall of 2017. Increments of discomfort ratings and workload ratings were gathered. The three independent variables were experience level (novice or experienced), role (leader or non-leader), and gender.

RESULTS

Novice players had a higher discomfort for their left hand and a higher level of cognitive demand as opposed to experienced players. Leaders had a higher increment of discomfort in their neck and upper back, and higher workload ratings in their performance workload and overall weighted workload than the non-leaders. Gender had no effect on increment of discomfort and workload, but some trends were noted.

CONCLUSIONS

This study indicates that players' role and experience, but not gender, can influence their workloads and discomfort.

Quality of life in Mexican patients with primary neurological or musculoskeletal disabilities

BACKGROUND

As the population with a disability increases both in number and life expectancy, so does its demand for health services. Very little original research has been done in Mexican populations regarding the effect of disability on quality of life.

OBJECTIVES

1) Assessing the subjective quality of life of patients with neuromusculoskeletal and movement-related function disabilities and, 2) Analyzing the possible effect of the medical condition (diseases of the nervous system vs. diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue) and its interaction with sex and age.

METHODS

In a cross-sectional design 330 participants were recruited from a public institution in Mexico providing specialized outpatient rehabilitation. After signing informed consent they responded a brief sociodemographic questionnaire and the WHOQOL-BREF scale.

RESULTS

In general quality of life levels were satisfactory. Female and elderly patients with diseases of the nervous system were particularly affected in the physical and psychological dimensions. Women with diseases of the nervous system also showed a negatively affected social quality of life. Elderly with diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue scored the lowest in general health perception.

CONCLUSIONS

Even though most patients were quite satisfied with their quality of life, not all aspects or cases have such positive perceptions; both the physical and psychological dimensions were particularly negative in female and elderly patients with nervous system diseases. Clinicians would do well to thoughtfully assess patients in these groups and adjust treatment to achieve the greatest possible rehabilitation.

Time to gain trust and change--experiences of attachment and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy among patients with chronic pain and psychiatric co-morbidity

The treatment of patients with chronic pain disorders is complex. In the rehabilitation of these patients, coping with chronic pain is seen as important. The aim of this study was to explore the meaning of attachment and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (CT) among patients with chronic pain and psychiatric co-morbidity. A phenomenological approach within a lifeworld perspective was used. In total, 10 patients were interviewed after completion of 7- to 13-month therapy. The findings reveal that the therapy and the process of interaction with the therapist were meaningful for the patients’ well-being and for a better management of pain. During the therapy, the patients were able to initiate a movement of change. Thus, CT with focus on attachment and mindfulness seems to be of value for these patients. The therapy used in this study was adjusted to the patients’ special needs, and a trained psychotherapist with a special knowledge of patients with chronic pain might be required.

Psychosocial aspects of everyday life with chronic musculoskeletal pain: A systematic review

Background and objective Chronic pain is a growing phenomenon worldwide. It is considered a medical problem because, besides the socio-economic issues involved, pain is often accompanied by psychosocial problems. Apart from the physical pain, living with chronic pain has many additional consequences. People living with chronic pain generally suffer from other physical and psychological consequences. The impact of chronic pain varies enormously between individuals, but the suffering is frequently pervasive and detrimental. The objective of this study was to review the evidence concerning, ways in which people living with chronic pain are affected in their everyday lives. Methods Electronic databases Scopus, Cinahl and PsycINFO were searched from 2008 to September 2012 using a 'building blocks' approach and reference lists were scanned. PubMed was also searched and checked for duplicates compared to Scopus, Cinahl and PsycINFO. Data were extracted from included studies and methodological quality assessed with a view to exploring quality differences. To guide the review and interpretation, individual components of methodological quality were compared against a checklist. A narrative synthesis was formulated involving three categories: (1) clinical aspects, (2) everyday life aspects and (3) interpersonal aspects. Results The search strategy identified 1140 citations; one study was found during the preliminary searching through references, and a search of reference lists provided five publications. Of these, 24 publications, representing 23 populations, met the inclusion criteria. In total, there were 22 cross-sectional studies and 2 cohort studies. Study populations ranged from 74 to 3928 participants and were heterogeneous in nature across studies with respect to age, duration and localisations of pain and outcome measures. We found a general consensus that life with chronic pain was associated with higher prevalence and higher levels of depression and diagnoses of widespread pain and nonspecific pain are more clearly associated with depression than is specific pain. The results of link between chronic pain and anxiety and stress were not obvious. Overall, there is plausible evidence to suggest a positive relationship between chronic pain and disability and the evidence is stronger for a significant positive association between nonspecific pain and disability, compared to specific pain. It can be summarized that there is a lack of evidence for a relationship between intensity of pain and quality of life. However, there is evidence that nonspecific pain is more compellingly associated with low quality of life than is specific pain. The evidence of a positive relation between pain and problems in close relations is not convincing but there is an indication to suggest that there is a pain-related issue regarding participation in many social aspects of everyday life. Conclusion Besides the pain itself, people living with chronic pain are affected in other aspects of life. In particular, it is evident that they experience challenges with respect to depressive thoughts, disability, lower quality of life and conflicts in close relationships. Implications When designing interventions for people with chronic pain, it is essential to take into consideration the fact that living with chronic pain has far-reaching consequences beyond the pain suffered.