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Associations of Coping Strategies with Diary Based Pain Variables Among Caucasian and African American Patients with Osteoarthritis

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Abstract

Purpose

The purposes of this study are to examine the associations between pain coping strategies and daily diary-based pain measures and to determine whether these associations differed by race (African American and Caucasian).

Methods

Primary care patients from the Durham Veterans Affairs and Duke University Medical Centers (N = 153) with hand, hip, or knee osteoarthritis (OA) completed electronic pain diaries on a one-weekend day and one weekday. The maximum, range (maximum minus minimum pain), and area under the curve (AUC) of joint pain ratings were calculated. Pain coping (Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ) coping attempts, catastrophizing, and praying/hoping subscale scores) was assessed prior to diary entries and at the end of each diary day (total, problem-focused, and emotion-focused scores from Stone and Neale's Daily Coping Inventory). Pearson correlations between pain variables and coping measures were examined. Linear mixed models were fit including age, race, weekend/weekday, study enrollment site, education level, pain medication use, self-rated health, Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales affect and function subscales, and interactions of coping measures with race and weekend day/weekday status.

Results

Correlations between coping and pain measures were 0.12–0.45. In adjusted models, maximum pain and pain range were associated with all three diary-based coping measures; maximum pain was associated with CSQ coping attempts; and AUC was associated with CSQ praying/hoping. Interactions were not significant.

Conclusions

Among participants with OA, pain coping strategies were related to important aspects of the pain experience, particularly pain range and maximum pain. However, race did not modify associations of pain coping strategy use and the pain experience.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank our participants and Cameron Oddone and Jennifer Stock for the assistance with data collection. The authors also thank the following individuals for the assistance with identifying participants for this study: Dr. Martha Adams, Dr. Scott Joy, Dr. Sabina M. Lee, Dr. Evangeline Lausier, Dr. Bruce Peyser, and Dr. Kathleen A. Waite. The views expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs. This work was supported by a Health Professional New Investigator grant from the American College of Rheumatology Research and Education Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Yvonne M. Golightly

  2. Thurston Arthritis Research Center, University of North Carolina, CB #7280, 3300 Thurston Building, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7280, USA

    Yvonne M. Golightly

  3. Injury Prevention Research Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Yvonne M. Golightly

  4. Health Services Research and Development Service, Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Kelli D. Allen, Karen M. Stechuchak & Cynthia J. Coffman

  5. Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Kelli D. Allen

  6. Center for Aging and Human Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Kelli D. Allen

  7. Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Cynthia J. Coffman

  8. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Francis J. Keefe

Authors
  1. Yvonne M. Golightly
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  2. Kelli D. Allen
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  3. Karen M. Stechuchak
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  4. Cynthia J. Coffman
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  5. Francis J. Keefe
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Correspondence to Yvonne M. Golightly.

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Golightly, Y.M., Allen, K.D., Stechuchak, K.M. et al. Associations of Coping Strategies with Diary Based Pain Variables Among Caucasian and African American Patients with Osteoarthritis. Int.J. Behav. Med. 22, 101–108 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-013-9365-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-013-9365-3

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