The experience of pain severity and pain interference in vulvodynia patients: The role of cognitive-behavioural factors, psychological distress and fatigue

Abstract

Objective: Vulvodynia is a chronic pain condition characterised by severe pain affecting the vulva. Biopsychosocial models have revealed the importance of illness perceptions, cognitive-behavioural variables and psychological distress in explaining the experience of pain and disability across several conditions. These factors have never been collectively examined in Vulvodynia. We predicted that distress, fatigue, illness perceptions, and cognitive-behavioural factors would be associated with pain severity and interference among women with Vulvodynia. Results: Hierarchical regression models controlling for demographic and illness characteristics, revealed that lower treatment control beliefs, greater illness identity, catastrophizing and psychological distress, were significant predictors of pain severity, explaining 35% of the variance. A second adjusted hierarchical regression model revealed that low treatment-control, higher fatigue, distress, and avoidance/resting behaviours were significant predictors of pain interference, explaining 48% of the variance. Conclusion:Distress, illness perceptions, fatigue, and cognitive-behavioural factors are associated with pain severity and interference in Vulvodynia patients, highlighting the importance of adopting a biopsychosocial approach in this setting. Future research should examine these factors over time to inform the development of future tailored interventions to help support women better manage Vulvodynia.

Illness Perceptions in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Testing Leventhal’s Self-regulatory Model

“…Also, consistent with the self-regulatory model, group differences in treatment control mapped onto increasing symptom severity across CLL groups, with FT patients believing more strongly that treatment would be helpful than RR. Although also in line with prior research linking symptom severity and treatment control [7,9,10,12,13], the treatment history of RR patients is important to consider. Average number of previous CLL therapies for RR patients was 3.5 (SD = 2.6), with some relapsing and/or failing to respond to upwards of 16 prior therapies.…”

“…Third, we hypothesized that coherence scores will be higher among those with more prior "experience" with CLL (e.g., interaction with medical system, receipt of treatment), such that AS patients report the lowest scores on this dimension, followed by FT, and then RR. Finally, with limited evidence linking symptom severity to timeline perceptions and their stability across time in those with chronic illness [7,8,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20], we did not anticipate group differences for this dimension.…”

“…In contrast, perceptions of the timeline of one's illness, such as being acute versus chronic, have been predominantly unrelated to symptom severity [7,8,[12][13][14], and, not surprisingly, stable across time for those with chronic (i.e., permanent) illnesses [15][16][17][18][19][20]. Exceptions have been observed, however, as in the case of asthma in which some patients adopt a chronic illness model only when symptoms are elevated [21], suggesting that relationships between symptom severity and timeline may vary by disease group.…”

The Effectiveness of Child-Centred Play Therapy on Internalization and Extrapolation Behavioral Problems in Children With Cerebral Palsy

“…There-Iranian Journal of PSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY fore, PP involves the objective experience of physical processes and a mental experience, including affective-emotional characteristics [13]. Furthermore, distress, disease perception, fatigue, and cognitive-behavioral factors are associated with pain intensity and PP [14].…”

Eficacia de un Tratamiento Cognitivo Comportamental (TCC) con apoyo de Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TICs) para el dolor lumbar crónico. Ensayo clínico aleatorizado

“…En la misma línea, se ha observado también en pacientes con dolor temporo-mandibular, que a mayores niveles de intensidad de dolor y discapacidad, mayor ansiedad, somatización, depresión, estrés, y menor nivel de optimismo (Su, Lobbezoo, van Wijk, van der Heijden y Visscher, 2017). Por otra parte, en pacientes con vulvodinia (dolor crónico que afecta a la zona vulvar), el estrés, la percepción de la enfermedad, la fatiga y factores cognitivo-conductuales se han asociado a una mayor gravedad del dolor y de la interferencia que genera esta enfermedad (Chisari y Chilcot, 2017). En el caso de la migraña, la discapacidad relacionada con la misma, se asocia a mayores síntomas de depresión, ansiedad y catastrofización ante el dolor (Seng, et al, 2017).…”