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Chronic widespread pain (CWP) is common and associated with loss of functioning and health. Subjects with chronic nonwidespread pain (CnWP) are at increased risk of developing CWP, but few studies have described the nature of the development over time. We followed a random sample of 3105 participants from the population-based HUNT 3 study with 5 annual measurements of pain over 4 years. Although 29% reported CWP on at least 1 occasion, only 7% reported it consistently on 4 or 5 occasions. The average annual cumulative incidence was 5%, and the recovery rate was 38%. In mutual adjusted analysis, the risk of developing CWP from 1 year to the next was higher in subjects with chronic pain (relative risk [RR] = 2.4; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.8-3.4), 2 or more pain regions (RR = 3.3; 95% CI: 2.5-4.4), moderate pain or more (RR = 1.8; 95% CI: 1.5-2.6), and with comorbid chronic disease (RR = 1.6; 95% CI: 1.3-1.9). Developing CWP was associated with a modest concurrent change in self-reported mental and physical health. The risk of developing CWP between the fourth and fifth occasions was 80% lower for subjects without a history of CWP, compared to those with a history of CWP. For subjects without previous CWP, the development was associated with previously reported CnWP, but not with the number of occasions with CnWP, in analyses adjusted for sex, age, and pain severity. A substantial proportion of the new cases of CWP originates from subjects floating below and above the definition for CWP over time and, thus, does not seem to involve major transitions in health.

That certain psychological factors are negatively associated with function in patients with chronic pain is well established. However, few studies have evaluated these factors in individuals with chronic pain from the general population. The aims of this study were to: 1) evaluate the unique associations between catastrophizing and perceived solicitous responses and psychological function, physical function, and insomnia severity in individuals with neuropathic pain, osteoarthritis, or spinal pain in the general population; and 2) determine if diagnosis moderates the associations found. Five hundred fifty-one individuals from the general population underwent examinations with a physician and physiotherapist, and a total of 334 individuals were diagnosed with either neuropathic pain (n = 34), osteoarthritis (n = 78), or spinal pain (n = 222). Results showed that catastrophizing was significantly associated with reduced psychological and physical function, explaining 24% and 2% of the variance respectively, whereas catastrophizing as well as perceived solicitous responding were significantly and uniquely associated with insomnia severity, explaining 8% of the variance. Perceived solicitous responding was significantly negatively associated with insomnia severity. Moderator analyses indicated that: 1) the association between catastrophizing and psychological function was greater among individuals with spinal pain and neuropathic pain than those with osteoarthritis, and 2) the association between catastrophizing and insomnia was greater among individuals with spinal pain and osteoarthritis than those with neuropathic pain. No statistically significant interactions including perceived solicitous responses were found. The findings support earlier findings of an association between catastrophizing and function among individuals with chronic pain in the general population, and suggest that diagnosis may serve a moderating role in some of these associations. Perspective When examining persons with pain in the general population, catastrophizing is associated with several aspects of function, and diagnosis serves as a moderator for these associations. The replication of these associations in the general population support their reliability and generalizability.

Introduction: The current study examined if adaptive working memory training (Cogmed QM) has the potential to improve inhibitory control, working memory capacity, and perceptions of memory functioning in a group of patients currently on sick leave due to symptoms of pain, insomnia, fatigue, depression and anxiety. Participants who were referred to a vocational rehabilitation center volunteered to take part in the study. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to either a training condition (N = 25) or a control condition (N = 29). Participants in the training condition received working memory training in addition to the clinical intervention offered as part of the rehabilitation program, while participants in the control condition received treatment as usual i.e., the rehabilitation program only. Inhibitory control was measured by The Stop Signal Task, working memory was assessed by the Spatial Working Memory Test, while perceptions of memory functioning were assessed by The Everyday Memory Questionnaire-Revised. Results: Participants in the training group showed a significant improvement on the post-tests of inhibitory control when compared with the comparison group (p = 0.025). The groups did not differ on the post-tests of working memory. Both groups reported less memory problems at post-testing, but there was no sizeable difference between the two groups. Conclusions: Results indicate that working memory training does not improve general working memory capacity per se. Nor does it seem to give any added effects in terms of targeting and improving self-perceived memory functioning. Results do, however, provide evidence to suggest that inhibitory control is accessible and susceptible to modification by adaptive working memory training. Copyright © 2017 Aasvik, Woodhouse, Stiles, Jacobsen, Landmark, Glette, Borchgrevink and Landrø. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Methods for classifying chronic pain in population studies are highly variable, and prevalence estimates ranges from 11% to 64%. Limited knowledge about the persistence of pain and the validity of recall questions defining chronic pain make findings difficult to interpret and compare. The primary aim of the current study was to characterize the persistence of pain in the general population and to validate recall measures against longitudinal reporting of pain. A random sample of 6419 participants from a population study (the HUNT 3 study in Norway) was invited to report pain on the SF-8 verbal pain rating scale every 3 months over a 12-month period and to report pain lasting more than 6 months at 12-month follow-up. Complete data were obtained from 3364 participants. Pain reporting was highly stable (intraclass correlation 0.66, 95% confidence interval 0.65 to 0.67), and the prevalence of chronic pain varied considerably according to level of severity and persistence: 31% reported mild pain or more, whereas 2% reported severe pain on 4 of 4 consecutive measurements. When defined as moderate pain or more on at least 3 of 4 consecutive measurements, the prevalence was 26%. Compared with the longitudinal classification, a cross-sectional measure of moderate pain or more during the last week on the SF-8 scale presented a sensitivity of 82% and a specificity of 84%, and a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 90% when combined with a 6-month recall question. Thus pain reporting in the general population is stable and cross-sectional measures may give valid prevalence estimates of chronic pain.

Purpose: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) has been characterized as the ultimate goal for health interventions such as physical activity (PA). We assessed how frequency, duration, and intensity of PA were related to HRQoL in younger (

Background Little is known about contextual effects on chronic pain, and how vulnerability factors influence pain in different contexts. We wanted to examine if fibromyalgia (FM) pain varied between two social contexts, i.e. at home versus in a doctor office, when it was measured the same day, and if pain was stable for 14 years when measured in similar contexts (doctor office). Our secondary aim was to explore if pain vulnerability factors varied in the two different contexts. Findings Fifty-five female FM patients were included in the study and scored pain in both contexts at baseline. Their age ranged between 21–68 years (mean 45.7), mean education level was 11 years and mean FM-duration was 15.6 years. Their mean pain was perceived significantly lower at home than in a doctor context the same day. However, pain was much more stable when measured in two similar contexts 14 year apart where 30 subjects (54.5%) completed. Predictor analyses revealed that pain vulnerability factors apparently varied by home and doctor contexts. Conclusion Pain and pain predictors seem to vary by contexts and time, with less pain at home than to a doctor the same day, but with unchanged pain in the same context after 14 years. Thus, contextual pain cues should be accounted for when pain is measured and treated, e.g. by focusing more on home-measured pain and by optimizing the doctor office context. This explorative study should be followed up by a larger full-scale study. © 2012 Fors et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.