Pain following stroke: a prospective study.

BACKGROUND

Post-stroke pain is common and affects the quality of life of stroke survivors, but the incidence and severity of headache, shoulder pain, other joint pain and central post-stroke pain following stroke still remain unclear. The aim of this prospective study was to determine the incidence and intensity of these different types of post-stroke pain.

METHODS

A total of 299 consecutive stroke patients, admitted to the Department of Neurology at Aarhus University Hospital, underwent a structured interview and a short sensory examination within 4 days of admission. Follow-up was conducted by phone 3 and 6 months after stroke onset, with 275 patients completing the whole study. Pain with onset in relation to stroke onset or following stroke was defined as 'newly developed pain'.

RESULTS

At the 6-month follow-up, newly developed pain was reported by 45.8% of the patients; headache by 13.1%, shoulder pain by 16.4%, other joint pain by 11.7%, other pain by 20.0% and evoked pain by light touch or thermal stimuli by 8.0%. More than one pain type was reported by 36.5% of the patients with newly developed pain. According to pre-defined criteria, 10.5% of the patients were classified as having possible central post-stroke pain. There was a moderate to severe impact on daily life in 33.6% of the patients with newly developed pain.

CONCLUSIONS

Pain following stroke is common, with almost half of the patients reporting newly developed pain 6 months after stroke.