Written by: Tetiana Povshedna, PhD student
Supervisor: Dr. Hélène Côté
Conference: International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) World Congress on Pain 2022
Poster presentation title: Experience of chronic pain among women living with HIV and HIV-negative women enrolled in the British Columbia CARMA-CHIWOS Collaboration (BCC3) Study
This September, thanks to the CBR support, I had the chance to attend the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) World Congress on Pain in Toronto, Canada. It is the largest international conference in the field of pain, bringing together basic science, clinical practice, rehabilitation, and mental health experts. As a research field, pain is quite unique. While acute pain, the one everyone is familiar with, is usually a temporary symptom or injury, some chronic pain disorders are considered stand-alone diseases that require dedicated multidisciplinary care. Another unique aspect of pain is the importance of trust when establishing diagnosis and assessing effectiveness of care. Unlike some diseases that can utilize blood and imaging-based biomarkers, pain diagnoses often rely on self-report from the patient.
In my research, I explore biological and social factors that affect aging experience for women living with HIV. Chronic pain, often an invisible condition that causes disability, is prevalent among people living with HIV and can be caused by HIV itself, by drug toxicity, and many other factors including coinfections. In the general population, chronic pain is more common in women than men. Yet, the majority of studies exploring pain in people living with HIV do not report sex-segregated prevalence of chronic pain. As a result, data about sex differences, as well as prevalence of chonic pain in women living with HIV, are scarce.
In my research, I explore biological and social factors that affect aging experience for women living with HIV. Chronic pain, often an invisible condition that causes disability, is prevalent among people living with HIV and can be caused by HIV itself, by drug toxicity, and many other factors including coinfections.
In the British Columbia CARMA-CHIWOS Collaboration (BCC3) Study, we use validated tools to better understand chronic pain in women living with HIV. In the BCC3 chronic pain survey, we go beyond the prevalence of pain and ask women about their subjective experiences and challenges around living with chronic pain. The poster I presented at the IASP World Congress on Pain described some preliminary findings in the study. The reporting of pain prevalence (42% among women living with HIV in British Columbia!) in this specific population was meant to increase the visibility of chronic pain. Our granular description of pain locations, pain interference, resilience, coping abilities of women living with chronic pain, as well as medication and substance use, emphasized the complexity of lived experiences that were shared by study participants with our research team. Moving forward, I plan to investigate the relationship between chronic pain and markers of healthy aging and social determinants of health, to ultimately improve understanding of the aging process for women living with HIV.
Attending The World Congress of Pain this fall has been extremely useful for my journey toward understanding the best ways to approach chronic pain research. The congress experience allowed me to gain some valuable knowledge about various types of pain, identify global pain research priorities, and engage in lively and challenging conversations with pain researchers from across the world. The insight gained during this trip has impacted my future research goals and approaches, and I’m grateful for this timely opportunity. I would like to thank CBR for supporting my attendance of this hugely important event for my professional and personal growth.