Pain in spinal cord injuries: investigating associated factors (1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A longitudinal (in-patient) study and a cross-sectional (out-patient) study investigating the contribution of cortisol, psychological and social factors in the experience of chronic pain in spinal cord injured patients.
IRAS ID
125194
Contact name
Margaret P Tilley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Buckingham
Research summary
A longitudinal (in-patient) study and a cross-sectional (out-patient) study investigating the contribution of cortisol, psychological and social factors in the experience of chronic pain in spinal cord injured patients.
It is estimated that over 62% of people with a spinal cord injury (SCI) experience chronic pain (Ullrich, Jensen, Loesser & Cardenas, 2007), and yet in the UK there is currently no tailored pain management programme. SCI pain is unusually resistant to standard pain management programmes (Perry, Nicholas & Middleton, 2010). The development of a tailored programme requires a profile of the biological, psychological, and social characteristics of chronic pain sufferers with SCI but the existing knowledge base is fragmented. Therefore, there is a need to examine more fully the range of the characteristics that could be involved. This will inform the development of appropriate and specific treatment programmes.
A longitudinal, multiple assessment-point design will be used with spinal cord injured in-patients at the National Spinal Injuries Centre (NSIC), Stoke Mandeville. Participants will be asked to complete a set of two pain assessment questionnaires and six psychological assessments at three, six and twelve months after admission to the NSIC and to provide salivary cortisol samples on each occasion. Additionally, a cross-sectional study, using the same questionnaires and cortisol sampling, will be undertaken with out-patients of the NSIC who have been out of hospital for a minimum of two years. It is anticipated that the outcome of the research will be the generation of a knowledge base from which a SCI-specific pain management programme will be designed and piloted.
The study will be funded by the University of Buckingham.REC name
South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/SC/0457
Date of REC Opinion
9 Oct 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion