Heart failure: the hidden problem of pain.

Goebel JR, Doering LV, Shugarman LR, Asch SM, Sherbourne CD, Lanto AB, Evangelista LS, Nyamathi AM, Maliski SL, Lorenz KA. Heart failure: the hidden problem of pain. Journal of pain and symptom management. 2009 Nov 1; 38(5):698-707.

Related HSR&D Project(s)

• IIR 03-150 – Validation of Pain as a Vital Sign Among Veterans with Advanced Illness

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.    Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions

Search for Abstract from PubMed

---

Abstract:

Although dyspnea and fatigue are hallmark symptoms of heart failure (HF), the burden of pain may be underrecognized. This study assessed pain in HF and identified contributing factors. As part of a multicenter study, 96 veterans with HF (96% male, 67+/-11 years) completed measures of symptoms, pain (Brief Pain Inventory [BPI]), functional status (Functional Morbidity Index), and psychological state (Patient Health Questionnaire-2 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2). Single items from the BPI interference and the quality of life-end of life measured social and spiritual well-being. Demographic and clinical variables were obtained by chart audit. Correlation and linear regression models evaluated physical, emotional, social, and spiritual factors associated with pain. Fifty-three (55.2%) HF patients reported pain, with a majority (36 [37.5%]) rating their pain as moderate to severe (pain > or = 4/10). The presence of pain was reported more frequently than dyspnea (67 [71.3%] vs. 58 [61.7%]). Age (P = 0.02), psychological (depression: P = 0.002; anxiety: P = 0.001), social (P < 0.001), spiritual (P = 0.010), and physical (health status: P = 0.001; symptom frequency: P = 0.000; functional status: P = 0.002) well-being were correlated with pain severity. In the resulting model, 38% of the variance in pain severity was explained (P < 0.001); interference with relations (P < 0.001) and symptom number (P = 0.007) contributed to pain severity. The association of physical, psychological, social, and spiritual domains with pain suggests that multidisciplinary interventions are needed to address the complex nature of pain in HF.