Abstract
Study design
Cross-sectional.
Objective
To investigate the associations of a set of psychosocial resources with pain and pain-related factors in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) and chronic pain.
Setting
Community, Switzerland.
Methods
Data from 1,064 individuals with chronic pain who participated in the second community survey of the Swiss Spinal Cord Injury Cohort Study (Survey 2017) were analyzed. Multiple linear regression modeling was performed to test the hypotheses that higher levels of psychosocial resources (self-efficacy, self-esteem, purpose in life, optimism, hope, social support, sense of belonging) are negatively associated with pain intensity, pain interference and depressive symptoms.
Results
Higher self-esteem, optimism and hope were related to less pain interference and all psychosocial resources under study were negatively associated with depressive symptoms in final models. However, neither of the psychosocial resources was related to pain intensity when models were adjusted for pain interference and depressive symptoms.
Conclusions
These findings strengthen the evidence that psychosocial resources can have an impact on pain interference and depressive symptoms as pain-related factors, and support the notion that psychosocial resources might be promising targets for pain interventions in individuals with SCI.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the SwiSCI Steering Committee with its members Xavier Jordan, Fabienne Reynard (Clinique Romande de Réadaptation, Sion); Michael Baumberger, Hans Peter Gmünder (Swiss Paraplegic Center, Nottwil); Armin Curt, Martin Schubert (University Clinic Balgrist, Zürich); Margret Hund-Georgiadis, Kerstin Hug (REHAB Basel, Basel); Laurent Prince (Swiss Paraplegic Association, Nottwil); Heidi Hanselmann (Swiss Paraplegic Foundation, Nottwil); Daniel Joggi (Representative of persons with SCI); Nadja Münzel (Parahelp, Nottwil); Mirjam Brach, Gerold Stucki (Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil); Armin Gemperli (SwiSCI Coordination Group at Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil).
Funding
SwiSCI is hosted and funded by Swiss Paraplegic Research.
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All the authors contributed to the conceptualization of the study. CB performed the data analysis, with support from CF, SK and HT. CB and CF drafted the manuscript and interpreted the results together with RM, GL, SK and HT. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Ethical approval was granted by the Medical Ethics Committee of Northwest- and Central Switzerland (EKNZ, Project-ID: 11042 PB_2016-02608, approved Dec 2016). We certify that all applicable institutional and governmental regulations concerning the ethical use of human volunteers were followed during the course of this research.
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Braunwalder, C., Müller, R., Kunz, S. et al. Psychosocial resources and chronic pain in individuals with spinal cord injury: evidence from the second Swiss national community survey. Spinal Cord 59, 410–418 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-020-00577-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-020-00577-2
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