PURPOSE: To investigate in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, the relationship between pain and religiosity and to determine whether distinct dimensions of religiosity were associated with quality of life. METHODS: MS patients during clinical follow-up filled out the visual analogue scale for pain (VAS), the Mc Gill questionnaire (McGQ), the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the religious attitude scale (RAS), and expanded disability status scale (EDSS) was assessed. RESULTS: Ninety-two MS patients were enrolled, only two declined. There was a negative correlation between religious practice and faith and some domains of the SF-36 and a positive correlation between sensory, affective, and evaluative aspects of pain (at McGQ) and religious practices, and between evaluative aspects of pain (at McGQ) and faith. EDSS was significantly higher in practitioner believers compared to not practitioners. CONCLUSIONS: More disabled MS patients, with worse quality of life, also due to physical pain, find a source of comfort in faith and religious practices. Pain is not relieved by prayer; therefore, we may guess that in MS the poor beneficial effect of religiosity and practice on pain perception may be linked to a structural/functional damage of neural circuits involved in reducing pain during prayer.
PURPOSE: To investigate in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, the relationship between pain and religiosity and to determine whether distinct dimensions of religiosity were associated with quality of life. METHODS: MS patients during clinical follow-up filled out the visual analogue scale for pain (VAS), the Mc Gill questionnaire (McGQ), the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the religious attitude scale (RAS), and expanded disability status scale (EDSS) was assessed. RESULTS: Ninety-two MS patients were enrolled, only two declined. There was a negative correlation between religious practice and faith and some domains of the SF-36 and a positive correlation between sensory, affective, and evaluative aspects of pain (at McGQ) and religious practices, and between evaluative aspects of pain (at McGQ) and faith. EDSS was significantly higher in practitioner believers compared to not practitioners. CONCLUSIONS: More disabled MS patients, with worse quality of life, also due to physical pain, find a source of comfort in faith and religious practices. Pain is not relieved by prayer; therefore, we may guess that in MS the poor beneficial effect of religiosity and practice on pain perception may be linked to a structural/functional damage of neural circuits involved in reducing pain during prayer.
Authors: Claudio Solaro; M Cella; Alessio Signori; Vittorio Martinelli; Marta Radaelli; D Centonze; F Sica; M G Grasso; A Clemenzi; S Bonavita; S Esposito; F Patti; E D'Amico; G Cruccu; A Truini Journal: J Neurol Date: 2018-02-05 Impact factor: 4.849
Authors: Alan J Thompson; Brenda L Banwell; Frederik Barkhof; William M Carroll; Timothy Coetzee; Giancarlo Comi; Jorge Correale; Franz Fazekas; Massimo Filippi; Mark S Freedman; Kazuo Fujihara; Steven L Galetta; Hans Peter Hartung; Ludwig Kappos; Fred D Lublin; Ruth Ann Marrie; Aaron E Miller; David H Miller; Xavier Montalban; Ellen M Mowry; Per Soelberg Sorensen; Mar Tintoré; Anthony L Traboulsee; Maria Trojano; Bernard M J Uitdehaag; Sandra Vukusic; Emmanuelle Waubant; Brian G Weinshenker; Stephen C Reingold; Jeffrey A Cohen Journal: Lancet Neurol Date: 2017-12-21 Impact factor: 44.182
Authors: Elizabeth A Rippentrop; Elizabeth M Altmaier; Joseph J Chen; Ernest M Found; Valerie J Keffala Journal: Pain Date: 2005-08 Impact factor: 6.961
Authors: Peter L Foley; Hanna M Vesterinen; Barry J Laird; Emily S Sena; Lesley A Colvin; Siddharthan Chandran; Malcolm R MacLeod; Marie T Fallon Journal: Pain Date: 2012-12-14 Impact factor: 6.961
Authors: C Solaro; G Brichetto; M P Amato; E Cocco; B Colombo; G D'Aleo; C Gasperini; A Ghezzi; V Martinelli; C Milanese; F Patti; M Trojano; E Verdun; G L Mancardi Journal: Neurology Date: 2004-09-14 Impact factor: 9.910