Chronic Pain with Neuropathic Characteristic

Chronic pain conditions are often categorised into two major groups, namely nociceptive (caused by tissue damage) or neuropathic (caused by nerve damage) pain. In the past few years, this dichotomous approach (either neuropathic or nociceptive) has been questioned and it has been suggested that not only “typical” neuropathic pain syndromes but also otherwise chronic pain (e.g. back pain) may have neuropathic components of pain. This dimensional perspective is consistent with basic scientific opinion regarding chronic pain mechanisms; however, further studies are needed to examine it empirically. Neuropathic symptoms (e.g. burning and prickling sensations) have a central role in the clinical diagnosis of the neuropathic components of pain. The main aim of the first study was to assess the severity of self-reported neuropathic symptoms in different syndromes of chronic pain (e.g. headache, musculoskeletal pain, postsurgical pain). Using validated screening tools for neuropathic symptoms, a number of recent populationbased studies reported higher levels of pain intensity, as well as anxiety and depressive symptoms, in respondents who scored high on neuropathic symptoms, compared to those who scored low. Consequently, many authors have suggested the assumption of the uniqueness of neuropathic pain quality in its intensity and distressing characteristic. We aimed to further examine the association of the severity of neuropathic symptoms with pain-related (e.g. pain intensity and chronicity) and psychological factors (e.g. depression) in clinical samples of patients: one sample of patients with diverse types of chronic pain (study 1), and 4 samples of patients with typical neuropathic pain, radiculopathy, fibromyalgia or nociceptive back pain (study 2). In study 2, we also compared different patterns of neuropathic symptoms regarding pain and psychological factors. Seven hundred and six (study 1: n=400; study 2: n=306) patients suffering from a chronic pain condition enrolled for multidisciplinary pain treatment were considered for inclusion in the research project. The criteria for inclusion were: an age of over 18 years and having chronic pain according to ICD-10 criteria (F45.41 or R52.1-2). In study 2 only patients with typical neuropathic pain, back pain with (radiculopathy) or without (nociceptive back pain) clinical signs of nerve involvement, and fibromyalgia were included. The pain DETECT questionnaire was used to assess the severity of neuropathic symptoms in patients. A high severity of neuropathic symptoms was found not only in “typical neuropathic pain” but also in fibromyalgia and postsurgical pain (study 1). At first sight, our findings in a sample of patients with diverse types of chronic pain (study 1) suggested that neuropathic symptoms are associated with a high level of pain intensity, pain chronicity, functional disability and depression. However, in study 2 considering patients who had been diagnosed with typical neuropathic pain, radiculopathy or fibromyalgia, neither severity nor different patterns of neuropathic symptoms were correlated with the pain-related and psychological variables. A subgroup of nociceptive back pain patients who scored high on selfreported neuropathic symptoms reported high levels of pain intensity, depression, catastrophising and non-acceptance of pain suggesting a general response tendency (response bias) in this subgroup of nociceptive back pain patients. In summary, the results corroborate and support a dimensional perspective of neuropathic pain. Our findings lend no support to the assumption of many authors that a high severity of neuropathic symptoms principally results in high levels of pain intensity and psychological distress as it is not the case in patients with an underlying pathology of neuropathic symptoms. The results highlight the influence of cognitive-emotional factors on the experience and report of pain. The implications of these findings for research and clinical practice are discussed

A Longitudinal Analysis of Densities within the Pedestrian Sheds around Metro Stations. The Case of Tehran

Evaluation of spatial accessibility to public transportation has a weak background in many emerging countries, including Iran. Transit-Oriented Development is of great interest among Iranian planners and academics, but little is known about transit orientation provided by major public transport systems exemplified by the Tehran Metro. Statistical difference tests and polynomial regression done in this study show how residential densities within walking distances of metro stations established at different times after 1998 are significantly different. Both population and employment densities have decreased in more recent stations compared to those opened between 2005 and 2010. Moreover, one-way T-Tests comparing the population and densities of older lines with those of newer lines reveal that, in most cases, densities within walking distances of stations of older lines are higher. The paper concludes that lack of proper site selection and failing to locate new stations near job centers and highly populated areas threatens the transit-friendliness that emerged in the early years after establishing the first metro station in 1998

The prevalence and associated factors of chronic pain in nurses Iran

Background: Chronic pain is a long-term, debilitatingcondition. Nurses experiences pain and functional restrictionsearlier than other groups of people. Therefore, thisstudy was conducted to evaluate the prevalence and associatedfactors of chronic pain in nurses. aMethod: A structured, self-administered questionnairewas used to collect information. Participants included 639registered nurses from a medical center in Bandar Abbas.Results: At the baseline of the study, 64.8% of nursesreported chronic pain. The low back (27.7%, [n=115]),leg (21%, [n=87]), neck (16.7%, [n=63]), head and knee(15.2%, [n=69]), had the highest frequency among thenurses. Age (p<0.001), gender (p<0.001) and type of employment(p=0.04) increased risk of chronic pain. Also,significant difference was found between people with theonset of pain over the past three months and those withonset of pain over more than one year according of employmenthistory and the type of unit (p<0.05), and significantdifference between people with the onset of painover the past three months and those with onset of painover more than one year according to their job. (P<0.05).Conclusion: Results indicate the high prevalence of chronicpain in different parts of the nurses’ body. Most of them,the onset of pain was more than one year. Therefore, itis possible to develop appropriate preventive and educationalprograms by knowing the factors affecting chronicpain and situations increasing the duration of pain

Male nursing students’ perception of gender barriers in nursing curricula in an Iranian university of medical sciences

OBJECTIVE. The present study aimed to determine male nursing students’ perception of gender barriers in nursing curricula. METHODS. This descriptive study was conducted on 150 B.Sc. and M.Sc. nursing students at Tabriz School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tabriz university of medical sciences, Tabriz, Iran that were selected through convenience sampling. The study data were collected using Inventory of Male Friendliness in Nursing Programs-Short (IMFNP-S). This scale has 17 items for investigating male nursing students’ perception of gender barriers in nursing curricula. Each item is a 5-point Likert-type scale scored from 0 to 4; total scale score could range from 0 to 68, higher scores representing male nursing students’ perception of less gender barriers in nursing curricula. RESULTS. The total mean score of gender barriers was 35.11+6.15. The most important barriers included different requirements/limitations in obstetrics apprenticeship (Median=1), and need for proving oneself because of people’s expectation of nurses to be female (Median=2). On the other hand, the least important barriers were lack of important people’s support on one’s career decisions (Median=3), and lack of opportunity to work with other male nurses (Median=3). The scale score was not associated with the socio-demographic characteristics studied. CONCLUSION. The most male nursing students feel various gender issues in the nursing curriculum in a medium level that may negatively impact on their learning, professional performance and motivation and tendency to nursing. Furthermore, this vicious cycle can lead to lack of professional development, leaving the job and burnout. Thus, creating a gender-neutral environment can make nursing programs more male friendly

Traffic Prediction using Artificial Intelligence: Review of Recent Advances and Emerging Opportunities

Traffic prediction plays a crucial role in alleviating traffic congestion which represents a critical problem globally, resulting in negative consequences such as lost hours of additional travel time and increased fuel consumption. Integrating emerging technologies into transportation systems provides opportunities for improving traffic prediction significantly and brings about new research problems. In order to lay the foundation for understanding the open research challenges in traffic prediction, this survey aims to provide a comprehensive overview of traffic prediction methodologies. Specifically, we focus on the recent advances and emerging research opportunities in Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based traffic prediction methods, due to their recent success and potential in traffic prediction, with an emphasis on multivariate traffic time series modeling. We first provide a list and explanation of the various data types and resources used in the literature. Next, the essential data preprocessing methods within the traffic prediction context are categorized, and the prediction methods and applications are subsequently summarized. Lastly, we present primary research challenges in traffic prediction and discuss some directions for future research.Comment: Published in Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies (TR_C), Volume 145, 202

Comparison of Depression and Spiritual Well-being in Chronic Pain Patients and Healthy Control Group

For downloading the full-text of this article please click here.Background and Objective: The results of some recent studies suggest that spiritual well-being is related to physical health of individuals. The purpose of this study was to compare depression and spiritual well-being in patients with chronic pain and healthy people.Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study. The target population in this study included the patients with chronic pain and healthy individuals in Shiraz in the period 2017-2018. The total number of participants was 600, 300 with chronic pain and 300 healthy individuals, who were selected using available sampling and cluster sampling methods, respectively. The participants completed the Spiritual Well-being Questionnaire of Paloutzian and Ellison was and the Patient Health Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to describe demographic variables. To compare demographic characteristics, t-test and chi-square were used. Also, to compare the symptoms of depression and spiritual well-being in the patients with chronic pain and healthy participants, t-test was used. In this study, all the ethical considerations have been observed and the authors reported no conflict of interest.Results: No significant differences were found between the healthy participants and the chronic pain patients regarding demographic variables. Based on the results of t-test, depression was significantly higher in patients with chronic pain (9.97±6.30) compared to the healthy group (8.67±5.09) (P<0.006). Also, the results of t-test showed that spiritual well-being (73.78±12.10) was significantly lower in the patients with chronic pain than the healthy participants (87.14±15.03) (P<0.000).Conclusion: According to the results, people with chronic pain had lower levels of spiritual well-being and higher levels of depression than the healthy people. Therefore, it seems that performing psycho-spiritual interventions to reduce depression and promote the level of spiritual well-being of the community is an important step in preventing pain or reducing the severity of pain in patients with chronic pain. For downloading the full-text of this article please click here.Please cite this article as: Shaygan M, Mozafari M, Zahedian-Nasab N, Shayegan L, Bagheri S. Comparison of Depression and Spiritual Well-being in Chronic Pain Patients and Healthy Control Group. Journal of Pizhūhish dar dīn va salāmat. 2020;6(2):100-114.https://doi.org/10.22037/jrrh.v6i2.2325

Car Ownership Models in Iran: A Review of Methods and Determinants

The achievement of sustainable transportation and the desire to reduce car ownership are important aspects of urban planning, especially in developing countries. This paper presents an overview of researches and studies conducted on car ownership to find the knowledge gap and neglected modelling methods that should be employed in the further researches in Iran as one of the Middle East countries. It is found that car ownership models have under gone modification and improvement from regression models towards discrete choice models, although more improvement is necessary and underway. Lack of reliable aggregate and disaggregate data regarding public transport, land use, behavioural and socioeconomic variables particularly for small cities is prominent. To fill the gap, more descriptive and analytical researches and more complex modelling methods and variables need be delved