Chronic Pain Phenotype in Patients with Inflammatory Arthritis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Chronic Pain Phenotype in Patients with Inflammatory Arthritis
IRAS ID
219022
Contact name
Ernest Choy
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 30 days
Research summary
The ability to feel pain is an essential feature of the nervous system that allows an organism to detect and interpret both harmless and harmful stimuli. While physiological pain is a useful tool for safeguarding against damaging stimuli, pathological pain can be a debilitating symptom that significantly impairs health-related quality of life. Pain consistently ranks as one of the leading concerns among patients with inflammatory arthritis. Alleviation of pain is widely regarded as one of the most important treatment outcomes.
In patients with inflammatory arthritis such as Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), previous research suggested patients might develop pain in response to light pressure or severe pain to mild painful stimuli. Medically, these features are called hyperalgesia and allodynia. These features are suggestive of "abnormal processing/interpretation" of pain, a phenomenon known as central sensitisation. This project will investigate the prevalence of central sensitisation in patients with different forms of inflammatory arthritis, RA and Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) using questionnaires and measure pain threshold using an electronic algometer and von Frey filaments. If we can identify patients who suffer from central sensitisation, more effective treatments may be developed for these patients.
REC name
London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0147
Date of REC Opinion
21 Mar 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion