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A high quality clinical trial, systematic reviews and meta-analyses performed by a team at Brunel University have directly informed key international clinical practice guidelines, policies and on the management of low back pain and neuropathic pain and have been cited by users (NHS Trusts: Addenbrookes) in response to such guidelines. In this way our research is directly informing clinical practice.
The Pain Research Group (PRG) is a research team within the Centre for Health and Social Care Research (CHSCR). The PRG's research programme in chronic pain management encompasses a range of robust methodological approaches to achieve better patient outcomes with local, national and international impact. The PRG has adopted a dual approach to investigating the treatment of chronic pain, incorporating psychological factors with the application of neuromodulation techniques. This has led to significant improvements in patient outcomes and patient satisfaction surveys demonstrate excellent, positive results. The research has had significant influence on clinical practice at national level, underpinning recommendations for best practice issued by the British Pain Society in relation to spinal cord stimulation and intrathecal drug therapy. It has also contributed to NICE's clinical guidelines on the implementation of spinal cord stimulation and influenced clinical decision making through the NHS evidence database. At an international level, our research has contributed to three sets of guidelines issued by the Polyanalgesic Consensus Conference: inflammatory mass, intrathecal drug therapy for chronic pain and recommendations for reducing mortality and morbidity of intrathecal drug therapy. The reduction of morbidity and mortality in intrathecal drug therapy is of particular significance as the reduction of harm and unnecessary complications in healthcare is of high concern to healthcare organisations worldwide.
The Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Scale (CMPS) has provided the first validated pain questionnaire for the rapid assessment of acute pain in dogs in surgical and clinical settings. Developed by the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine, the scale aids clinical decisions on appropriate pain relief intervention and has been freely downloaded by over 3,000 clinical users since its launch in 2008. In addition, it has been used extensively by veterinary healthcare companies to successfully obtain regulatory approval for analgesic drugs and in marketing support materials. The University of Glasgow researchers have been instrumental in developing international pain guidelines with the World Small Animal Veterinary Association, which represent more than 180,000 veterinarians worldwide, and has thereby promoted awareness of pain management in companion animals.
Newcastle University research has changed policy and practice relating to the provision of pain relief to rodents and rabbits. This has impacted on up to 35 million animals worldwide during the REF period. Having established the under-use of analgesics in laboratory rodents, Newcastle researchers developed objective pain scoring systems. These established that analgesics should be administered to rodents and rabbits, and that the efficacy of this treatment should be assessed objectively. The research resulted in changes to policy statements, institutional policies (both academic and industrial) and individual research worker practices in the USA, Canada, Australia, Europe and the UK. This has produced clear benefits to the welfare of animals used in biomedical research, helps to satisfy public concerns that animals used in research should experience the minimum pain and distress, and improves scientific outcomes of research, since pain is an uncontrolled experimental variable, that can adversely affect study results.
Chronic pain, defined as pain lasting for more than 6 months, affects more than 25% of adults in developed nations. Drugs are costly, carry risks of side effects and dependence, and are of limited effectiveness in many cases. Morley, at the University of Leeds (UoL), collaborated on a series of definitive reviews and meta-analyses proving that active psychological treatments based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) are effective in treating chronic pain. This led to changes in UK government and world health organization (WHO) guidelines and the adoption of CBT at specialist pain clinics, reducing patient suffering, increasing social role functioning and ensuring more cost-effective treatment.
Having recognised the relative under-use of analgesics (painkillers) in animal research and veterinary practice, a programme of research at Newcastle led to the development of a behaviour-based pain scoring system. This system provided an objective way of establishing effective doses of analgesics to reduce post-operative pain and discomfort in animals. This work led to changes to a range of policy statements, institutional policies (both academic and industrial) and individual research worker practices. It is now established that analgesics should be administered to rodents and rabbits, and that the efficacy of this treatment should be assessed objectively, in both the laboratory and in veterinary practice.
Around half of older people, aged 65 and over, experience persistent pain; it can be isolating and seriously affect quality of life. This research, much of it done by service users, has produced tools and information for older people themselves, and for the professionals who work with them, to correctly assess and treat chronic pain. It is setting national standards, being adopted by the key national charities and NHS pain clinics, and garnering international interest. Specifically the work has:
Our research has produced a paradigm shift in the primary care management for back pain, by expanding traditional diagnostic approaches to attending to physical and psychosocial factors shown to influence future outcome (`prognosis'). We have developed screening tools (freely available, widely accessed, translated and adopted), to distinguish groups at low or high risk of long-term disability, and developed primary care interventions tailored to these groups. Through improved clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness, we have changed back care at national and international levels, evidenced by inclusion in official guidelines, into training of health professionals, adoption by spine and pain services, and active engagement of health care commissioners, clinicians and educators.
Statistical research has played a leading role in the creation of two pain measurement tools for dogs and a welfare tool for farm animals. The Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Scale (CMPS) was the first validated, multidimensional tool for assessing acute pain in domestic animals in surgical and clinical settings, leading to improved treatment. The tool is based on a statistical model and is unique in providing an intervention threshold for pain relief. Since its launch in 2008, it has been downloaded by over 3,000 users from both veterinary practice and industry and it has been used by several companies for regulatory approval of novel analgesics. A second pain measurement tool (GUVQuest) was developed for chronic pain in dogs, enabling its impact on quality of life to be assessed. This tool is suitable for animal owners and is being exploited commercially in web-based form. A welfare tool for pigs has also been developed using the same statistical principles and work is underway on the development of similar tools for cows and cats.