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Background: This pilot study measures pain perception, somatosensory amplification and its relationship to health anxiety in patients with fibromyalgia (FM) and patients with FM and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA); this study also examines the effects of OSA on pain perception in patients with FM. Methods: In this pilot study, patients diagnosed with FM or FM and OSA, completed three self-reported questionnaires: Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ), Somatosensory Amplification Scale (SSAS), and Illness Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ). Sleep study results were analyzed. Scores were summarized using medians and interquartile ranges and are compared using Wilcoxon rank sum tests. Results: Overall FM (n = 25), female n=23 male n=3 mean age, 57.48 years. OSA n=17 (68%) and 8 (32%) were not. The SF-MPQ Sensory sub-scale scores and the SF-MPQ overall scores differed significantly between patients with and without OSA. The SF-MPQ Sensory sub-scale scores were significantly lower for patients with OSA (p=0.03), as were SF-MPQ overall scores (p=0.04). SSAS overall scores and IBQ overall scores did not differ significantly by OSA diagnosis. Correlations of the different dimensions of IBQ with SSAS and mean number of diagnoses in FM and FM+OSA, mean number of diagnoses in problem list of SSAS ≤30 was 29.5, mean number of diagnoses in SSAS ≥30 was 34.9. Discussion: Developing a better understanding of the effects of OSA on pain perception in patients with FM is needed for improved health status. More research is needed to see if higher pain perception and SSAS score lead to increased health care utilization and to evaluate the relationship between untreated disordered sleeping and pain perception in patients with FM. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the need for more research to evaluate the relationship between treated and untreated disordered sleeping, pain perception, somatization and illness behavior in the health status of individuals with FM.
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Objective: We sought to investigate the relationship between psychiatric comorbidity, socioeconomic status (SES), and mental health utilization among patients with prurigo nodularis (PN). Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with PN from 2007 to 2019. SES was approximated using zip codes; per capita income data was compared to the Livable Income Threshold. Results: 288 patients were included. Patients were predominantly female (57%) and significantly more likely to have a psychiatric disorder than men (p=0.001). 44.1 percent of patients had at least one psychiatric comorbidity, with mood (74.8%) and anxiety (63.0%) disorders being most common. Patients with PN in lower SES groups had a higher incidence of psychiatric disorder (p=0.566) and utilization of mental health services (p=0.617). 40.9 percent of patients with a diagnosed psychiatric disorder had no record of seeing a psychiatrist or psychologist. Limitations: Patient records were retrospectively reviewed for encounters with a psychiatrist or psychologist, but did not account for other forms of mental health services. Per capita income used to determine SES may not be an accurate representation of an individual's income, nor did it account for the number of people within a household. Conclusion: Psychiatric comorbidity was common among patients with PN and many went without receiving mental health services. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to better understand the impact of SES on these factors.
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Objective: We sought to evaluate the efficacy of a Spanish-language educational video in teaching primary Spanish speaking patients to recognize benign and malignant lesions and to increase their awareness about skin cancer. Materials and Methods: Thirty-seven subjects were enrolled in study. An instructional video was developed to increase knowledge of benign and malignant lesions, skin cancer awareness, and prevention among Spanish-speaking patients. Two examples each of six common skin lesions (e.g., malignant melanoma, cherry angioma, seborrheic keratosis, benign melanocytic nevus, basal cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma) were presented as high-quality images to the participants before and after watching the two-minute educational video. A pre- and postvideo survey was used to assess competency. Results: The prevideo baseline median score was six points (interquartile range [IQR]: 5-6 points); postviewing median score improved to 11 points (IQR: 11-12 points), which was statistically significant (Median=5 points, IQR: 4-6 points; p<.001). The ability of the participants to identify nonmelanoma skin cancers improved from 74 percent to 98 percent and from 35 percent to 99 percent for squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma. Initially, only 30 percent of participants could identify melanoma prior to viewing the video. Afterwards, 97 percent of participants could identify this malignancy. However, the video format preferences were not statistically significant: 67.6 percent of the participants preferred the video format. Conclusion: These results suggest that this educational video is an effective and valuable method to enhance knowledge about skin health and improve identification of skin cancer among Spanish-speaking patients.
