Precision Medicine News

Data Analytics Boosts Chronic Pain Management, Personalized Medicine

Researchers look to improve chronic pain management and personalized medicine through a data analytics study.

chronic pain management personalized medicine data analytics

Source: Getty Images

By Erin McNemar, MPA

- University of Pittsburg researchers used a data analytics algorithm to algorithmically cluster individuals with chronic pain by pain distribution, paving the way for better more personalized medicine. By using a body map to pinpoint pain distribution, researchers assigned patients to distinct subgroups associated with differences in pain intensity, pain quality, and pain impact.

In clinical practice, the distribution of chronic pain in the body typically coincides with other signs and symptoms to diagnose and treat patients.

“Recent work on fibromyalgia has revealed that clinical pain syndromes thought to be distinct entities may share clinically-relevant features, especially regarding the impact of pain distribution on outcomes. However, patterns of pain distribution have not been previously examined in a systematic way as predictors of pain characteristics or outcomes,” the press release stated.