Covid-19 lockdown increased chronic pain in women: Study
Covid-19 lockdowns caused more chronic pain in women than men, a recent study has found. The research was published in the 'European Journal of Anaesthesiology'. The difference between women and men could be linked to the extra care responsibilities and emotional response generated by the pandemic, researchers said.
Previous research suggested that high-stress situations including war and the aftermath of terrorist attacks can exacerbate chronic pain. During Covid-19 lockdowns around the world, vulnerable groups were particularly hard hit by increased isolation, loneliness, anxiety, and financial uncertainty as well as being unable to access usual care. However, the psychosocial consequence of COVID-19 on people with chronic pain has not been fully studied.
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"Our research suggests that the pandemic may have exacerbated chronic pain problems and some gendered inequalities," said lead author Dr Kordula Lang-Illievich from the Medical University of Graz in Austria.
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"With chronic pain affecting around 20 percent of the EU adult population, it is vital to understand how people living with chronic pain are being affected by the pandemic and to develop pain management interventions that clearly target women," Lang-Illievich added.
To investigate how COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland impacted people with chronic pain, researchers invited adults taking part in self-help groups who had experienced chronic pain for at least 1 year to complete a web-based survey.
Participants were asked about pain intensity (measured using the Visual Analogue Scale 0-100, with 0 being no pain) before and during the COVID-19 lockdown. They were also questioned about pharmacological and non-pharmacological pain management, physical activity, social and psychological factors.
-PTC News
