f 2700 community-dwelling Japanese residents aged ≥40 years were assessed for chronic pain and its components of duration, frequency, and intensity. The activities of daily living (ADL) disability and depressive symptoms of participants were also evaluated using the modified Lankin Scale and Patient Health Questionnaire-9. The odds ratios and the population attributable fractions (PAFs) for ADL disability and depressive symptoms were estimated using a logistic regression model. Results: The prevalence of chronic pain varied greatly by definition, ranging from 13% for pain defined as pain duration ≥3 months, pain frequency ≥ twice a week, and pain intensity of ≥50 mm by a visual analogue scale (VAS) to 48% for a simple definition of pain duration ≥3 months. The PAFs for ADL disability and depressive symptoms were relatively high at 33% in participants with pain duration of ≥6 months and 30% in those with pain frequency of ≥twice a week, while the VAS ≥50 mm group had a low PAF of 12%. C

jectives: We examined the analgesic efficacy of anodal tDCS over the left M1 of patients with severe PDM and studied the functional connectivity (FC) changes between the periaqueductal gray matter (PAG) and the medial motor area (MMA) to elucidate the possible central mechanisms. Methods: Twenty-eight patients with severe PDM participated in this randomized and sham-controlled study. The participants received daily M1-tDCS for 5 to 7 days, beginning 2 to 3 days before menstruation and continuing until their pain severity decreased to a mild level. We evaluated the menstrual pain and PAG-seeded FC with MMA using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging right after and 1 month later after M1-tDCS modulation. Results: The neuromodulation by active M1-tDCS led to a significant decrease in the FC between the PAG and MMA. This reduction in FC correlated with a decrease in menstrual pain experienced in the subsequent menstrual cycle. Notably, only the FC modulated by active M1-tDCS

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es patients experience with these medicines is important for the provision of care. Objective: To understand the difficulties experienced by patients prescribed opioids for noncancer pain in primary care. Methods: A cross-sectional postal survey of adults prescribed an opioid medicine for noncancer pain over a period of ≥3 months from 10 general practices (n = 3077) in the East Midlands was conducted using self-completed questionnaires. Sociodemographic, pain, and opioid use information was gathered to characterise the study population. An adapted version of the 15-item Prescribed Opioids Difficulties Scale was used to assess the problems and concerns attributed to using prescribed opioids, from the time opioids were first prescribed. Results: Questionnaires were received from 619 respondents (response rate = 20.1%), of whom 59.8% were female, and the median age was 64 years. Four in 5 (79.8%) had experienced at least one opioid problem or concern from the Prescribed Opioids Difficulti

t. Methods: This randomized clinical trial was a simple blind, monocentric, placebo-controlled study. Seventy-five patients were randomly distributed between standard and sham OMT sessions at a 1:1 ratio, receiving standard or sham treatment every 2 days for the 7 days of the study. Patients were assessed using a self-administered visual analog scale (VAS)—ranging from 0 to 100, recorded in the morning and evening. They also completed the QLQ-C15-PAL quality-of-life questionnaire on the first and last day of the study. For participants with controlled analgesia pumps, the number of analgesic doses was recorded. Results: The OMT group demonstrated a significant effect of days, circadian period, and group on VAS pain decrease (P < 0.05). The VAS pain score for the OMT group exhibited a notable decline from the third day (D3 pm) (P = 0.03) to D6 pm (P = 1.28 × 10−05) with 43.2% improvement by the conclusion of the study. On D6, the quality-of-life score exhibited a tendency towards improv