Poster Presentation
Water's Edge Ballroom (Hilton Waikoloa Village)
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Water's Edge Ballroom (Hilton Waikoloa Village)
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Abuse in Adult Chronic Headache Patients
Mary Basolo-Kunzer, DNSc, RN, CS1, Seymour Diamond, MD2, and Fred Frietag, MD2. (1) Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing, Indiana University School of Nursing South Bend, South Bend, IN, USA, (2) Diamond Headache Clinic, Chicago, IL, USA
| Learning Objective #1: Identify some adult chronic headache patients who present for pain management at a specialty headache clinic have experienced abuse |
| Learning Objective #2: Identify that abused patients scored significantly higher on the affective scale of the McGill Pain Questionnaire than non-abused patients |
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether adult chronic headache patients experienced abuse prior to coming to a specialty headache clinic. If they experienced abuse, did this abuse affect their treatment outcomes? One hundred and twenty-one adult chronic headache patients were assessed for headache pain on their initial appointment, and again at post-treatment and at 3 months follow-up using the McGill Pain Questionnaire. Thirty-eight percent (N=46) of the sample of adult chronic headache patients were abused. There were 44 female patients and 2 male patients who had been abused. No patients were currently being abused. Of the 46 patients that had been abused: 34 reported verbal abuse, 26 physical abuse and 17 sexual abuse. The abused patients were more likely to be in their second or third marriage when compared with the non-abused patients (Pearson Chi-Square test = 16.198, (df = 3, p = .001) The abused patients scored significantly higher on their pretreatment affective scale of the McGill Pain Questionnaire than the non-abused patients (abused = 7.0, SD = 3.43 versus non-abused = 4.91, SD = 3.07, F = 10.98, (df = 1, p = .001). The abused patients' Pain Rating Indexes at pretreatment were higher than the non-abused patients, however; the difference only approached significance (abused = 35.82 SD = 15.38 verses non-abused = 32.51, SD = 14.59, F = 3.36, (df = 1, p = .069). Both groups experienced pain reduction at post- treatment and at 3 months follow-up. There were no differences in pain levels at post- treatment and at 3 months follow-up between the two groups. Nurses need to know that some adult chronic headache patients who present for pain management of headaches have been abused, however; past abuse didn't affect treatment outcomes in this study.