28 November 2005 - 09:44, Sarah Goodlin said
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Heart failure is known to cause shortness of breath and fatigue, yet at least half of persons with heart failure also report the presence of pain. The cause of pain for these persons is not clear. A new study “PAIN-HF” (Pain Assessment, Incidence & Nature in Heart Failure) to be conducted through the PC-HEART collaborative will identify the prevalence of pain, its location, severity and impact on activities and the possible causes of pain in persons living with heart failure.

The study will also try to understand relationships between other problems and pain, as well as what treatments are given to reduce pain.
“This is an important step in helping health care providers better manage pain and related problems in persons with heart failure,” says the study’s lead investigator, Dr. Sarah Goodlin. “We know that drugs commonly used to treat arthritis and other causes of pain are contraindicated in heart failure patients because they impact kidney function, worsen heart failure and result in hospitalization. We don’t know whether patients are provided other treatment, or which treatments are most effective for their pain.”

Other possible causes of pain have not been explored in persons with heart failure. These include the possibility that pain results from swelling in the legs and other parts of the body, or that pain is perceived as a component of other symptoms associated with heart failure, such as shortness of breath, fatigue, depression or anxiety.

The primary goal of PAIN-HF is to identify the prevalence of pain, its nature and location and relation to other symptom distress in persons with advanced heart failure. Information will be gathered through examinations and surveys of patients with advanced heart failure in community outpatient clinics and hospice care sites who are members of PC-HEART.

PAIN-HF Principal investigator is Goodlin; Dr. Sue Wingate is co-investigator. Steering Committee members are Susan J. Bennett, DNS, RN, Professor, Indiana University School of Nursing, Porter Storey MD, Executive Vice President American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and John Teerlink MD, Assoc. Professor, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and the San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center.

The study is funded by The Mayday Fund, established in 1992 to further Shirley Steinman Katzenbach’s commitment to social and medical causes. The Mayday Trustees set a goal of closing the gap between a wealth of information about the treatment of pain and the implementation of this knowledge. Over the last ten years, Mayday has supported many different projects, among them, surveys of public attitudes to pain and its treatment, role model and documentation programs, assistance to public and professional advocacy groups, and clinical and academic research. This project addresses the Trustees wish to support projects that result in clinical interventions to reduce the toll of physical pain. Christina Spellman, executive director of the Mayday Fund affirms. “All at Mayday are excited about the potential of this project to document the extent and prevalence of undertreated pain as a first step towards designing a better system of care for those with heart failure who are suffering.”