Novel insights into stroke pain beliefs and perceptions

BACKGROUND: Chronic pain is common following stroke, yet its characteristics are poorly understood. OBJECTIVES: To characterize the beliefs and perceptions of people with stroke who experience chronic pain and compare these to a non-stroke population with chronic pain. METHOD: An online survey of the Pain Beliefs and Perceptions Inventory for stroke and non-stroke individuals with chronic pain. Pain beliefs and perceptions, including perceived causes of pain, were compared across the two groups. RESULTS: A total of 223 participants completed all questions. The stroke group (N = 106) reported significantly higher pain intensities (p = <0.001) than the non-stroke group (N = 117). In addition, they identified the stroke as the primary cause of their pain, whereas the non-stroke group identified a body injury as the primary cause. When compared to the non-stroke group, people with stroke were more likely to report their pain as being constant (p = <0.001), demonstrate a lack of understanding regarding cause(s) of their pain (p = <0.001), believe less that their actions contribute to their pain (p = <0.001), and have greater belief that their pain is permanent (p =