Abstract
The corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is one of the most important healthcare and societal challenges to have emerged in the last century. It may have effects on both physical and psychosocial health, but studies considering the impact on vulnerable populations, such as people with chronic pain, are needed. In this cross-sectional study, an online survey of relevant chronic pain domains, coping strategies, triggers and potential related variables was answered by 502 Spanish individuals with chronic pain. Participants were mainly women (88%) with longstanding chronic pain and moderate to high pain intensity and disability. The perception of pain aggravation and the most pain-related outcomes were observed. Contextual variables such as job insecurity, worries about the future, people cohabiting, being close to someone who had passed away, or being potentially infected with COVID-19 were related to worse outcomes. More than half the participants altered their pain management style (e.g., increased medication intake) and several changes occurred with respect to pain triggers (cognitions, feelings of insecurity and loneliness, and sleeping problems were more frequently reported as triggers during lockdown). Our preliminary results highlight the negative effects of lockdown on patients with chronic pain as well as the need to make available cost-effective and remotely accessible healthcare resources for counteracting them.
Highlights
The corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is one of the most important worldwide healthcare and societal challenges to have emerged in the last century, and it has had dramatic consequences on the population
Hawryluck et al [5] found a high prevalence of depression and post-traumatic stress related to the quarantine brought on by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
There is little research on how people living through the COVID-19 crisis or those having been infected with the disease perceive and experience the situation [10]
Summary
The corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is one of the most important worldwide healthcare and societal challenges to have emerged in the last century, and it has had dramatic consequences on the population. Unemployment and job uncertainty have negative effects on individuals’ and communities’ psychological and social well-being [9] Besides these few studies, there is little research on how people living through the COVID-19 crisis or those having been infected with the disease perceive and experience the situation [10]. Of particular interest for exploration are the views and experiences of people with chronic pain, as COVID-19 can have a greater impact on them [11], as well as on individuals with physical disabilities in general [3]. As far as we know, there are no data available at this moment regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and home lockdown measures on people with chronic pain. Med. 2020, 9, 3558 chronic pain felt in relation to different important domains, to analyze changes in their general health, and to explore changes in the coping strategies they have used and in their pain itself
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