Abstract
Dudgeon BJ, Gerrard BC, Jensen MP, Rhodes LA, Tyler EJ. Physical disability and the
experience of chronic pain. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2002;83:229-35. Objectives: To obtain an insider's view about disability-related pain to help rehabilitation
clinicians understand the experience and to show how people with disability manage
daily living and encounters with other people. Design: Qualitative methods by using open-ended interviews and thematic analysis. Setting: Rehabilitation research program. Participants: Nine adults with chronic physical disability and pain were recruited from study groups.
The 9 included people with spinal cord injury, acquired amputation, or cerebral palsy.
Intervention: Interview protocol. Main Outcome Measure: Phenomenologic analysis of interviews based on codewords derived from interview topics
and themes. Results: Study participants described pain as a part of daily living that influenced many
lifestyle decisions. They characterized pain as plural, meaning that it has multiple
locations, distinctive descriptions, and different implications. They also were concerned
about pain being a mystery, having unclear causes and consequences. Typically they
described pain as a personal venture, with little or dissatisfying communication about
pain with family, friends, or health care providers. Conclusions: Understanding pain associated with physical disability can help guide rehabilitation
practitioners in their pain assessments, interventions, and related research. Our
findings suggest that some people with disability-related pain may benefit from reassurance
and specific planning for expected and unexpected pain episodes. © 2002 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy
of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
March 12,
2001
Received in revised form:
March 12,
2001
Footnotes
☆Supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (grant no. 1PO1HD/NS33988).
☆☆No 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(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.
★Reprint requests to Brian J. Dudgeon, PhD, OTR, Dept of Rehabilitation Medicine, Box 356490, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, e-mail: [email protected]
★★Supplier
♢a. Scientific Software Development, Am Horstbleek 5, 38116 Braunschweig, Germany.
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Copyright
© 2002 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
