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American Pain Society
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GLENVIEW, IL, December 15, 2008—Federal funding for pain research is declining sharply—more than 9% per year since 2003—according to a study published in The Journal of Pain. As a result, pain research now accounts for only 0.6% of all grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
University of Utah researchers led by David H. Bradshaw, PhD, analyzed data about NIH grant awards from 2003 through 2007 for pain, and compared pain research funding with dollars allocated for nausea and dyspnea. A previous study authored by Bradshaw, also published in The Journal of Pain in 2005, found that less than one percent of all NIH funding in 2003 was for research having a primary emphasis on pain. The current study shows that five years later pain research is still a low priority at NIH, and this disparity is not attributable to years of budget cuts because the study clearly shows pain research has a higher percentage decline than decreases in overall agency funding.
Noting that financial pressures in Washington have led to an unprecedented recession in funding for biomedical research, the authors said: "With decreased funding for research and continuing needs for resources to support national security and military efforts, major natural disasters and uncertain economic status, competition for limited research funds will intensify. The ability to track funding patterns becomes increasingly important for policy making decisions."
The American Pain Society (APS) has given financial support for the University of Utah team's ongoing monitoring of NIH funding for pain research. The goal of the project is to provide policy makers with an objective and verifiable classification tool for measuring grant awards and funding trends to help determine if NIH research dollars are being directed where the scientific and clinical need is most compelling.
The study also reported that a review of all records for primary research for nausea and dyspnea, revealed, unlike pain research funding trends, that grants for those conditions increased steadily from 2003 to 2007. The authors concluded that even though there have been unprecedented funding cuts at NIH, "additional measures should be taken at NIH to improve the chances of funding for meritorious applications proposing research on pain."
Source: Trends in Funding for Research on Pain: A Report on the National Institutes of Health Grant Awards Over the Years 2003-2007, David H. Bradshaw, Court Empy, Phillip Davis, David Lipschitz, Yoshio Nakamura, and C. Richard Chapman, University of Utah Department of Anesthesiology Pain Research Center.
The risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors that may accompany chronic back, neck, and joint pain can be accounted for by comorbid mental disorders, according to a University of Washington study in The Journal of Pain.
According to coauthors Jennifer Brennan Braden, PhD, and Mark D. Sullivan, PhD, previous studies show there is increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in individuals with noncancer pain conditions, but it is unknown how these findings relate to the broader chronic pain population.
In this study, Braden and Sullivan sought to determine if non-cancer pain is independently associated with increased risk for suicide ideation. They analyzed data from the National Comorbidity Survey replication, a household survey of US adults 18 and older. Part One polled 9282 respondents and included all diagnostic assessments for pain and comorbid mental disorders. Part Two involved 5,692 subjects, including all who met lifetime criteria for at least one mental disorder assessed in Part One. They were asked questions about risk factors, consequences and additional disorders. Lifetime chronic medical conditions were assessed through self reports answering the question: "Have you ever had any of the following," and were followed by a list of 15 conditions. Self reported pain conditions included arthritis, rheumatism, low back pain and frequent or severe headaches.
The authors found that, consistent with prior studies, psychiatric comorbidity was common among individuals with a chronic pain condition. They concluded the disappearance of significant associations between chronic back/neck problems and lifetime suicidality and between any pain condition and 12-month suicidality, once results were adjusted for mood/anxiety and substance abuse disorders, emphasizes the importance of indentifying and treating comorbid psychiatric disorders in pain patients. Therefore, pain alone is unlikely to lead to suicidality, even if severe and persistent, unless it is combined with depression or other mental disorders that prompt hopelessness about the future.
Source: Suicidal Thoughts and Behavior Among Adults with Self-Reported Pain Conditions in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication; Jennifer Brennan Braden and Mark D. Sullivan, University of Washington School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
