Chronic pain is one of the most prevalent and difficult problems health care professionals encounter. Within the context of chronic pain, approximately 30% of patients treated in pain clinics have chronic facial pain, a problem predominately found in women. Patients with chronic facial pain vary in functional status from unaffected to incapacitated. Studies attempting to identify variables that cause patients with similar levels of pain to respond to vastly different ways are usually based on the perspective of the investigator's discipline. Considering the subjectivity of the pain experience, a more comprehensive measure which includes the patient's perspective of the disability caused by the pain, is warranted. Taking into account the lack of consistent physical outcome measures in patients with chronic facial pain, performance of societal roles, should be considered. A comprehensive, holistic approach which includes the individual's perception of the pain experience as well as other psychological variables will be used in this study in an attempt to present a more complete picture of the variables that affect functional status in patients with chronic facial pain. The goal of the proposed study is to expand the knowledge based utilized in assessing and treating patients with chronic facial pain.
Specific aims are to 1) describe the functional status of patients with chronic facial pain, and 2) identify variables that affect functional status in patients with chronic facial pain.
| Vallerand, A H (1998) Development and testing of the inventory of functional status--chronic pain. J Pain Symptom Manage 15:125-33 |
| Vallerand, A H (1995) Gender differences in pain. Image J Nurs Sch 27:235-7 |
