PAIN DESCRIPTION AND ILLNESS BEHAVIOR IN PAIN DIARIES OF FIBROMYALGIAAND RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS PATIENTS

Intensity, sensory-discriminative and affective-motivational quality o f pain were assessed over a period of 14 days by means of the Bonn Pai n Diary in 16 fibromyalgia (FM) patients and 18 rheumatoid arthritis ( RA) patients. Additionally, patients reported pain and sleep duration, daily irratations, and pain-reducing interventions. FM patients diffe red from RA-patients by higher scores in the sensoric-discriminative c omponent of pain. The patterns of preferred pain descriptors were synd rome-specific. However, the two groups did not differ in the overall d aily pain duration; whereas in RA-patients the pain attacks occurred m ostly until 1 0 a. m. In FM-patients, the time-course of pain over 14 days showed higher variability compared to RA-patients. RA patients sl eep longer than FM-patients. Furthermore, the groups differ statistica lly significantly with respect to interactions of scaled pain with the preferred interventions in order to reduce pain. Conclusions concerni ng pain-referring cognitions are drawn. In general, the evaluation of self-reports about pain by behavioral parameters is recommended.