The following is the summary of “Cross-sectional study of pain-related variables before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in patients with COPD”  published in the December 2022 issue of Pain management by  Granados-Santiago, et al.

Patients with COPD are affected by the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of their deteriorating health, it’s possible that there’s a rise in the number of people reporting pain. This research aimed to compare pain-related factors in COPD patients before and after the 2009 COVID-19 pandemic.

Patients with stable COPD who had not previously been diagnosed with COVID-19 were analyzed in this cross-sectional case-control research conducted before and during the pandemic. The pronociceptive pain profile (including general pain sensitivity, pain intensity, pain interference, and pressure pain sensitivity) and psychological susceptibility were the primary results (perceived health status, anxiety, and depression). Their findings revealed that COPD patients during the COVID-19 pandemic experienced higher general pain sensitivity and intensity and statistical differences in pain interference (P<.001).

While also reporting a lower subjective health status overall than before the pandemic (P<.05). Researchers concluded that the pronociceptive pain profile of patients with COPD during the COVID-19 pandemic increased and that this was accompanied by increased psychological vulnerability.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1524904222001205