Thesis
An investigation into end-expired carbon dioxide levels and psychological self-report measures for chronic pain patients following pain management therapy
Masters by Coursework, Murdoch University
2002
Abstract
Chronic pain patients have been found to have mild hyperventilation as a result of the physiological and psychological arousal associated with a chronic pain condition (Douglas, 1992; Glynn, Lloyd & Folkhard, 1981). Twenty-six chronic pain patients (17 females, 9 males, mean age 49), 20 gastroenterology patients (14 females, 6 males, mean age 49), and 15 hospital staff (9 females, 6 males, mean age 39) were tested on end-expired carbon dioxide levels (pCO2) to determine if pCO2 was an important psychophysiological marker for chronic pain. Pain patients completed several self-report measures (Modified Zung Questionnaire (ZSDS) (Main & Waddell, 1984; Zung, 1965), MOS 36-Item Short-Form (SF-36) (Ware & Sherboume, 1992), Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RDQ) (Roland & Morris, 1983), Praying and Catastrophizing subscales of the Coping Strategy Questionnaire (CSQ) (Rosenstiel & Keefe, 1983) and Pain Ratings before and after pain management therapy to determine if changes in these measures reflected changes in pCO2 levels. Gastroenterology patients and hospital staff also completed the ZSDS and SF-36 for comparative purposes. The results suggested that the pain patients showed mild hyperventilation (low levels of pCO2), which was not reduced following pain management therapy. Gastroenterology patients also showed mild hyperventilation. Pain patients reported improvements on several of the self report measures following pain management therapy. The inclusion of breathing re-training in pain management programs is recommended to reduce mild levels of hyperventilation.
Details
- Title
- An investigation into end-expired carbon dioxide levels and psychological self-report measures for chronic pain patients following pain management therapy
- Authors/Creators
- Jane Griffin
- Contributors
- Peter Drummond (Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Murdoch University; Masters by Coursework
- Identifiers
- 991005541620407891
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Psychology
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis
Metrics
10 File views/ downloads
98 Record Views