Facemasks and Chronic Pain Patients With Hearing Loss

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Facemasks may impede communication. Impaired communication may worsen healthcare outcomes. This study explores the problem of hearing impairment in chronic pain patients, and the impact of facemasks on healthcare outcomes in chronic pain patients. Data collection includes patient's age, anxiety score, depression score, numeric pain score, and effects of facemasks on treatment outcomes. Pain is measured using numeric pain rating scale. Depression is measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) scale. Anxiety is measured using the General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale.

Detailed Description
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Facemasks may impede communication. Impaired communication may worsen healthcare outcomes. There is inadequate data on the prevalence of hearing impairment in chronic pain patients. There is inadequate information about the impact of facemasks on treatment outcomes in chronic pain patients with hearing impairment. This prospective study explores the problem of hearing impairment in chronic pain patients, and the impact of facemasks on healthcare outcomes in chronic pain patients. This is a prospective cohort study of adult patients undergoing pain treatment at an interventional pain clinic in Canada. Data collection includes patient's age, anxiety score, depression score, analgesic usage, numeric pain score, and effects of facemasks on pain management outcomes. Pain is measured using numeric pain rating scale of 0-10, with change of 2-points being considered significant. Depression is measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) scale of 0-27, with change of 3-points being considered significant. Anxiety is measured using the General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale of 0-21, with change of 3-points being considered significant. Data are analyzed with IBM® SPSS® Statistics 25; using Student's t-test, ANOVA, Pearson Chi-square test, and regression analysis. P-value <0.05 is considered significant.

Official Title
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Facemasks and COVID-19 Pandemic in Chronic Pain Patients With Hearing Impairment

Conditions
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Hearing Loss, Chronic Pain

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Verbal communication


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: adults chronic pain diagnosis diagnosed hearing impairment use of hearing aid Exclusion Criteria: complete deafness cochlear implant severe vision impairment cognitive dysfunction

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 20 Years
Maximum Age: 99 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Intervention/Treatment |
| --- |
|Behavioral: Verbal communication|Verbal communication; by talking and listening|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Numeric pain score, objective measurement using validated Numeric Pain Rating scale | Pain score, using the Numeric Pain Rating scale of 0 to 10, low scores indicate less pain, high scores indicate worse pain | 12 weeks | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Depression score, objective measurement using validated Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) scale | Depression score, using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) scale of 0-27; low scores indicate less depression, high scores indicate worse depression | 12 weeks | 
| Anxiety score, objective measurement using validated General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale | Anxiety score, using the General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale of 0-21; low scores indicate less anxiety, high scores indicate worse anxiety | 12 weeks |