PAIN PREVALENCE, SEVERITY AND IMPACT IN A CLINIC SAMPLE OF MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS PATIENTS

Previous studies have reported variable prevalence of pain in multiple sclerosis (MS) and have not documented the impact of pain on daily li ving. In this consecutive series, we report on data collected from str uctured interviews with 85 patients seen within a 16-month period at a regional referral clinic. The prevalence of pain for the month preced ing assessment was 53%. There were no significant differences between patients who did and those who did not report pain on the basis of pat ient demographics (age, gender) and disease characteristics (disease s ubtype, duration and neurologic symptom severity). Disease duration an d neurologic symptom severity were significantly correlated with the n umber of hours of pain per week but were not correlated with pain seve rity, the number of pain sites or pain-related distress. There was wid e variability in the number of pain hours/week reported with 17.6% of the sample reporting continuous pain for the month preceding assessmen t. Sixty-five percent of patients with pain reported taking medication s for pain and 90% of these patients evaluated their medication(s) as 50% effective or better. Nevertheless, patients with pain reported poo rer mental health and more social-role handicap. Discussion focuses on the need for routine assessment of pain and the comprehensive evaluat ion of the effectiveness of pain interventions in the therapeutic mana gement of patients with MS.