Sean Mackey

Pain affects millions worldwide, posing significant challenges in diagnosis and treatment. Despite advances in understanding pain mechanisms, there remains a critical need for validated biomarkers to enhance diagnosis, prognostication, and p…

The use of electronic health records (EHR) for chronic pain phenotyping has gained significant attention in recent years, with various algorithms being developed to enhance accuracy. Structured data fields (e.g., pain intensity, treatment m…

INTRODUCTION: Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) bear a significant burden of pain. We aimed to identify factors that distinguish patients with SLE referred to comprehensive pain clinics and those who are not. Characterizing t…

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate and compare different case definitions for chronic pain to provide estimates of possible misclassification when researchers are limited by available electronic health record and administra…

OBJECTIVE: The chronification of pain is heterogeneous in rheumatology. Chronic overlapping pain conditions (COPCs) such as fibromyalgia, endometriosis, migraine, and back pain may co-occur with one another and in rheumatic diseases. We des…

INTRODUCTION: Abdominal pain frequently co-occurs with pain in other body sites. Chronic overlapping pain conditions (COPCs) represent a group of widespread pain diagnoses. Our study characterized how patterns of somatic pain distribution a…

Pain is a multidimensional experience with sensory-discriminative, affective-motivational, and cognitive-evaluative components. Pain aversiveness is one principal cause of suffering for patients with chronic pain, motivating research and dr…

OBJECTIVE: Chronic overlapping pain conditions (COPCs) represent a co-aggregation of widespread pain disorders. We characterized differences in physical and psychosocial functioning in patients with chronic migraine (CM) and those with CM a…

IntroductionCritical for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic pain is the anatomical distribution of pain. Several body maps allow patients to indicate pain areas on paper; however, each has its limitations.ObjectivesTo provide a comprehe…

Altered resting-state (RS) brain activity, as a measure of functional connectivity (FC), is commonly observed in chronic pain. Identifying a reliable signature pattern of altered RS activity for chronic pain could provide strong mechanistic…

Neuroimaging studies have shown that changes in brain morphology often accompany chronic pain conditions. However, brain biomarkers that are sensitive and specific to chronic pelvic pain (CPP) have not yet been adequately identified. Using …

BACKGROUND: The "Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Chronic Pelvic Pain" (MAPP) Research Network was established by the NIDDK to better understand the pathophysiology of urologic chronic pelvic pain syndromes (UCPPS), to inform futu…