title: Prevalence and Time Course of Post-Stroke Pain: A Multicenter Prospective Hospital-Based Study.
abstract: Pain prevalence data for patients at various stages after stroke.
  
  
  
  Repeated cross-sectional, observational epidemiological study.
  
  
  
  Hospital-based multicenter study.
  
  
  
  Four hundred forty-three prospectively enrolled stroke survivors.
  
  
  
  All patients underwent bedside clinical examination. The different types of post-stroke pain (central post-stroke pain, musculoskeletal pains, shoulder pain, spasticity-related pain, and headache) were diagnosed with widely accepted criteria during the acute, subacute, and chronic stroke stages. Differences among the three stages were analyzed with χ(2)-tests.
  
  
  
  The mean overall prevalence of pain was 29.56% (14.06% in the acute, 42.73% in the subacute, and 31.90% in the chronic post-stroke stage). Time course differed significantly according to the various pain types (P < 0.001). The prevalence of musculoskeletal and shoulder pain was higher in the subacute and chronic than in the acute stages after stroke; the prevalence of spasticity-related pain peaked in the chronic stage. Conversely, headache manifested in the acute post-stroke stage. The prevalence of central post-stroke pain was higher in the subacute and chronic than in the acute post-stroke stage. Fewer than 25% of the patients with central post-stroke pain received drug treatment.
  
  
  
  Pain after stroke is more frequent in the subacute and chronic phase than in the acute phase, but it is still largely undertreated.
authors.affiliation: *Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, Rome, Italy;
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paolucci
authors.affiliation: *Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, Rome, Italy;
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iosa
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy;
authors.forename: Danilo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Toni
authors.affiliation: IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana, Rome, Italy;
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barbanti
authors.affiliation: Ospedale Civile Maggiore Borgo Trento, Verona, Italy;
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bovi
authors.affiliation: Casimiro Mondino, IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Nazionale, Pavia, Italy;
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cavallini
authors.affiliation: Casimiro Mondino, IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Nazionale, Pavia, Italy;
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Candeloro
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy;
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mancini
authors.affiliation: CRT-Rehabilitation Center of Terranuova Bracciolini, Arezzo, Italy;
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mancuso
authors.affiliation: Ospedale Civico, Palermo, Italy;
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Monaco
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy;
authors.forename: Alessio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pieroni
authors.affiliation: **Department of Neurological and Movement Sciences, Anatomy and Histology Section, University of Verona, Verona, Italy;
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Recchia
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sessa
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Strambo
authors.affiliation: **Department of Neurological and Movement Sciences, Anatomy and Histology Section, University of Verona, Verona, Italy;
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tinazzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy;
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cruccu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy; andrea.truini@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Truini
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020521:Stroke / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*
keywords: Central Post-Stroke Pain; Hemiplegic Shoulder Pain; Spasticity; Stroke