Assessing the Relationship Between Chronic Pain and Cognition: A NIDILRR and VA TBI Model Systems Collaborative Project.
Mackenzie Peckham, Cynthia L Beaulieu, Kaitlin Hays and 10 others
PMID 39998575WHAT IT FOUND
Among people with moderate-to-severe TBI and current chronic pain, higher pain intensity and interference were linked to slightly worse telephone cognitive scores.
Head pain was also linked to worse scores. The links were small, so their practical meaning is unclear.
Key findings
01Participants with current chronic pain had worse cognitive scores than participants without chronic pain.
02For every one-point increase in pain intensity, BTACT scores decreased on average between 0.10 and 0.14 SDs; for pain interference, cognitive scores decreased between 0.07 and 0.10 SDs.
03For every one-point increase in HIT-6 headache impact, BTACT scores decreased by 0.02 SDs on average, and the associations were small.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study compared people at one time point and did not test whether treating pain changes cognition. The sample was limited to English-speaking participants who did not need a proxy, and it included only people with current chronic pain, so results may not apply to people with past chronic pain, proxy-assisted participants, or non-English speakers. Pain, sleep, anxiety, PTSD, depression, and medication use were self-reported, which can be inaccurate. Many surveys were completed by phone, which may affect disclosure. The effect sizes were small, and the paper says there is no established clinical interpretation of BTACT scores, so the practical meaning of the differences is unclear. The large sample size may have produced statistically significant results that are not clinically meaningful.
Declared interests
The article states that the authors declare no conflicts of interest. The supplied publication types list NIH extramural and non-U.S. government research support, but the article text does not report a specific funder or sponsor role.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that pain caused the lower cognitive scores or that treating pain will improve cognition. This was a cross-sectional observational analysis, not a treatment trial, and the associations were small.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →