Objective-To determine the nature and scope of pain in working-aged adults with myotonic muscular dystrophy (MMD) and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD).Design-Retrospective, cross-sectional survey.
Setting-Community-based survey.Participants-Convenience sample of subjects with MMD and FSHD.
Interventions-Not applicable.Main Outcome Measures-Overall intensity and duration of pain, pain inference, pain sites, pain treatments, and relief provided by pain treatments.Results-More subjects with FSHD (82%) than with MMD (64%) reported pain. The most frequently reported pain sites for both diagnostic groups were lower back (66% MMD, 74% FSHD) and legs (60% MMD, 72% FSHD). Significant differences in pain intensity were found between the diagnostic groups in the hands, legs, knees, ankles, and feet, with patients with MMD reporting greater pain intensity at these sites than patients with FSHD. Age was related to the onset of pain (participants reporting pain were younger than those not reporting pain in the FSHD sample), but pain severity was not significantly associated with age in those reporting pain. Respondents with both diagnoses that reported mobility limitations and used assistive devices (eg, wheelchair, cane) reported more pain severity than those with mobility limitations who did not use assistive devices, who, in turn, reported more pain severity than respondents who reported no mobility limitations at all. The treatments that were reported to provide the greatest pain relief were not necessarily those that were the most frequently tried or still used.
© 2008 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and RehabilitationReprint requests to Mark P. Jensen, PhD, Dept of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Box 356490, Seattle, WA 98195-6490, e-mail: mjensen@u.washington.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: This article was published in an Elsevier journal. The attached copy is furnished to the author for non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the author's institution, sharing with colleagues and providing to institution administration. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/copyrightNo commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.
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Author ManuscriptArch Phys Med Rehabil. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 February 25.
Published in final edited form as:Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2008 February ; 89(2): 3...