Patient adjustment to chronic pain can be influenced by the spouse
and his or her response to the patient's expressions of pain. The aim
of this study was to investigate details within patient-spouse interactions.
Couples (95) completed questionnaires relating to mood, marital satisfaction,
and communication, and 80 couples were interviewed. Data were analysed
using quantitative and qualitative methods. Results showed that spouses
of chronic pain patients reported engaging in a far wider variety of
responses to pain behaviors than previously recognized. New response
categories of 'hostile-solicitous' and 'observe only' were identified.
Male spouses identified fewer pain-related situations than female spouses
but were more likely to report responding solicitously to patient pain
behaviors. Marital satisfaction was significantly higher in patients
who reported that they talked more frequently about their pain. Spouse
perceived frequency of pain talk was not related to spouse marital satisfaction.
There were no gender differences in marital satisfaction. The results
of this study challenged some of the assumptions that have been held
regarding chronic pain patient-spouse interactions. Newton-John T, Williams
A. Adapted from Pain. 2006 Jul 1;123(1-2).
PMID 16563628
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed
Credit: PubMed, developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information
(NCBI) at the National
Library of Medicine (NLM).
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