Medicate or Meditate? Greater Pain Acceptance is Related to Lower Pain Medication Use in Persons With Chronic Pain and Spinal Cord Injury

This study explores whether accepting chronic pain leads to less reliance on pain medications among individuals with spinal cord injuries (SCI). It examines the relationship between pain acceptance and the use of various pain medications. The research focuses on chronic pain acceptance, a self-management approach, and its link to lower usage of pain medications, opioids, and gabapentinoids in individuals with chronic pain and SCI. The findings suggest that individuals with chronic pain and SCI who are more accepting of their pain tend to use fewer pain medications, potentially reducing the risks associated with long-term medication use.

• 1
  Higher pain acceptance was related to a significantly lower number of pain medications used, even when considering pain intensity, the number of painful body areas, and depressive symptoms.
• 2
  Higher pain acceptance scores were related to a lower risk of opioid use. For every one-unit increase in pain acceptance, there was a 3% lower odds of using opioids.
• 3
  Activities engagement, a component of pain acceptance, was significantly and negatively related to opioid use; pain willingness was significantly and negatively associated with gabapentin use.