QIMR Berghofer study finds burden of pain significantly higher in Parkinson’s patients скачать в хорошем качестве

QIMR Berghofer study finds burden of pain significantly higher in Parkinson’s patients

A major QIMR Berghofer-led study has found that people living with Parkinson’s disease are nearly three times more likely to suffer from chronic pain compared to the general community, with two thirds of patients experiencing the debilitating symptom. It is the first time the extent and severity of chronic pain have been measured on such a large scale in Parkinson’s disease, highlighting the urgent need to treat this issue alongside motor symptoms such as tremors to improve the quality of life of patients. The findings have been published in the journal Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. QIMR Berghofer Associate Professor Miguel Rentería who led the study said it was common for patients with Parkinson’s to report pain but there was a lack of data about the issue. “Chronic pain is a symptom that is often underrecognised, underdiagnosed and undertreated, and it really impacts the quality of life of people living with Parkinson's disease. “Previous studies were done in only small groups of people so there was a need for more evidence. We have now been able to look at more than 10,000 people which gives us a much better understanding of just how prevalent chronic pain is in Parkinson’s.” Researchers analysed data from 10,631 participants in the Australian Parkinson’s Genetics Study (APGS) which is led by QIMR Berghofer and funded by the Shake It Up Australia Foundation and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Two-thirds of study participants (66.2 per cent) reported chronic pain, which is significantly higher than the general population of a similar age where the prevalence of pain is estimated at 23 per cent in men and 30 per cent in women. Chronic pain is defined as pain that persists for more than three months and occurs every day or most days. The study found pain was more common and more severe in women, with 70.8 per cent of female participants experiencing pain compared to 63.5 per cent of men. The most common body sites affected were the buttocks (35.6 per cent), lower back (25.4 per cent), neck (19.4 per cent) and knees (17.2 per cent). Follow QIMR Berghofer   / qimrb_institute     / qimrbinstitute     / qimrb-institute      / @qimrb_institute