title: Association of pain, social support and socioeconomic indicators in patients with spinal cord injury in Iran.
abstract: METHODS
  Descriptive cross-sectional study.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Pain is a prevalent complication of individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Our objective was to examine the association between social support, socioeconomic factors and psychosocial factors and pain to develop more effective management strategies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Research (BASIR) Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Persian version of the Brief Pain Inventory was used to measure the pain, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support was used to measure social support through structured face-to-face interviews in SCI individuals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall prevalence of pain was 50.7%; 79.3% of individuals had bilateral pain, with lower limbs and back being the most common location. The quality of pain was described as aching (41.4%), tingling (32.9%), pressure (15.7%), coldness (5.7%) and feeling electric shock sensations (4.3%). The frequency of pain in individuals with paraplegia (60.9% vs 45.7%) and incomplete (53.5% vs 52.5%) SCI was higher than with other types of neurological injuries. Patients with a medium level of education had the least pain and those with good economic situation reported higher frequency of having pain (P=0.034). There was no significant relationship between pain and social support. There was a positive correlation between pain and impairment of mood, normal work, relations with other people and lack of sleep (P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These novel findings will inform the development of strategies to manage pain by improving access to health-care facilities and supplies.
authors.affiliation: Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Khazaeipour
authors.affiliation: Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ahmadipour
authors.affiliation: Sina Trauma and Surgery Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rahimi-Movaghar
authors.affiliation: Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ahmadipour
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics and Neurosurgery, Thomas Jefferson University and the Rothman Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Vaccaro
authors.affiliation: Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.|Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Management, Academic Teaching Hospital Nordstadt, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Babakhani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D059408:Pain Management / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D055815:Young Adult