The following is a summary of “Evaluating sensitization-associated, neuropathic-like symptoms and psychological factors in patients with interstitial lung disease,” published in the September 2024 issue of Pain by Parás-Bravo et al.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to phenotype pain in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) by investigating the association between sensitization-associated symptoms, QoL, anxiety/depression, pain catastrophizing, kinesiophobia levels, and identifying risk factors explaining the variance of QoL in individuals with ILD and pain.

They studied 132 patients with ILD (38.6% women, mean age: 70, standard deviation: 10.5 years). Participants completed clinical (age, sex, height, weight), psychological (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), and health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-5L) variables, as well as the Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI), the Self-Report Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms (S-LANSS), Pain Catastrophizing Scale, and Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK-11) questionnaires.

The results showed the prevalence of sensitization-associated and neuropathic-like symptoms, anxiety, depression, poor sleep, pain catastrophizing, and kinesiophobia in 25% of ILD patients with pain. There were significant associations between CSI, S-LANSS, HADS-A, HADS-D, Pain Catastrophizing Scale, TSK-11, and EQ-5D-5L (.220 < r < .716). The regression analysis revealed that CSI, TSK-11, and HADS-D explained 44.8% of the variance of EQ-5D-5L (r² adjusted:.448. 

They concluded that sensitization-associated symptoms, depression, and kinesiophobia were associated with worse QoL, supporting the existence of different pain phenotypes, including nociplastic-like pain, in patients with ILD. 

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S152659002400453X