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. 2014 Nov 3;9(11):e111765.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0111765. eCollection 2014.

'Two pains together': patient perspectives on psychological aspects of chronic pain while living with HIV

Jessica S Merlin  1 , Melonie Walcott  2 , Christine Ritchie  3 , Ivan Herbey  2 , Stefan G Kertesz  4 , Eric Chamot  5 , Michael Saag  2 , Janet M Turan  5
Affiliations

'Two pains together': patient perspectives on psychological aspects of chronic pain while living with HIV

Jessica S Merlin et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objective: Chronic pain is common in HIV-infected individuals. Understanding HIV-infected patients' chronic pain experience not just from a biological, but also from a psychological perspective, is a critical first step toward improving care for this population. Our objective was to explore HIV-infected patients' perspectives on psychological aspects of chronic pain using in-depth qualitative interviews.

Methods: Investigators engaged in an iterative process of independent and group coding until theme saturation was reached.

Results: Of the 25 patients with chronic pain interviewed, 20 were male, 15 were younger than age 50, and 15 were African-American. Key themes that emerged included the close relationship between mood and pain; mood and pain in the context of living with HIV; use of alcohol/drugs to self-medicate for pain; and the challenge of receiving prescription pain medications while dealing with substance use disorders.

Conclusions: The results suggest that psychological approaches to chronic pain treatment may be well received by HIV-infected patients.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

References

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