Pain Caused by COVID-19: 7 Questions on What We Know
Pain associated with COVID-19 has many causes and may persist after the infection has resolved. Find out what you've learned about pain in the pandemic with these 7 questions.
Pain associated with COVID-19 infection—during the acute illness or afterward—is common and merits close attention from health care providers.
In a recent review in Pain Reports, authors summarize incidences of acute pain during COVID-19, the types of pain most commonly experienced, disorders accompanying COVID-19 that increase the risk of persistent pain, and the implications of COVID-19 for patients who have chronic pain.
Find out what you know about the pain in the pandemic with this 7-question quiz based on the review.
1. How is the acute pain that accompanies COVID-19 infection classified?
Answer: D. All of the above. Acute pain that accompanies COVID–19 infection may be classified as localized pain (eg, sore throat), remote pain (eg, headache), or generalized discomfort (eg, body ache).
2. Which are the most common acute pain manifestations of COVID-19?
Answer: B. Headache and myalgia. The most common acute pain manifestations, headache and myalgia, occur in up to 71% of patients.
3. Pain symptoms that arise as a consequence of neurologic manifestations in patients with COVID-19 involve which component(s) of the nervous system?
Answer: C. Both the central and peripheral nervous systems. In patients hospitalized for COVID-19, CNS disorders were reported in 25% and PNS symptoms in 9%; 5% of PNS symptoms were described as neuropathic pain and 23% had muscle affection.
4. Which type of chronic pain is a leading long-term complication of COVID-19?
Answer: B. Chest pain. Chest pain was the only reported pain symptom from a list of post-discharge persistent symptoms in a French cohort of patients with COVID-19 after a mean of 110.9 days.
5. True or False. The pandemic’s psychological burden may exacerbate patients’ pre-existing pain.
Answer: A. True. One study found that chronic pain intensity remained stable or improved within the first 2 weeks after the initial lockdown, but in another study, 73.2% of patients reported a worsening of their pain disorder in the later pandemic phase.
6.True or False. Autoimmune reactions may be responsible for pain that accompanies COVID-19.
Answer: A. True. Other COVID-19 pain pathomechanisms include viral neurotropic properties, activation of nociceptive sensory neurons by cytokines and chemokines, and direct affection of peripheral nerve and muscles.
