ArticleBMJ open2026
Everyday social contexts influence fluctuations into and out of chronic pain: an ethnographic study in England.
Article in BMJ open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe research explored how individuals experience chronic pain within their everyday social contexts over a 12-month period. The study focused on the interplay between pain and social worlds, through analysis of experiences of social relationships included in engagement in meaningful activities such as hobbies and work.
designDrawing on ethnographic approaches from social science, the study involved 295 research visits with 19 participants living with chronic pain (totalling approximately 418 hours of fieldwork) and 48 semistructured interviews (around 30 hours).
settingThe study was carried out in South West England, UK.
participants19 participants were identified through the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents, 12 women and 7 men, all identifying as white British, aged between 32 and 33 years.
resultsThe analysis identified three key themes: (1) Social connections and everyday fluctuations in chronic pain; and (2) the interplay between work, family roles and fluctuations in chronic pain; and (3) Social spiralling and fluctuations in chronic pain. The third theme builds on and combines the patterns identified in the first two themes, drawing together how changes in social connections and balancing of roles coalesce in the experience of fluctuation in chronic pain. Relationships, roles and how these were experienced varied across participants, but all of their descriptions indicated that the constant flux was understood, even if financial or other circumstances meant that people were unable to exert agency that would have proved beneficial. Across themes, interconnected social processes appear to shift and move together, amplifying their collective impact on the experience of chronic pain.
conclusionFluctuations in chronic pain were complex, shaped by and entangled with social contexts that vary in meaningful ways. The findings suggest that to address chronic pain effectively, health and social care may need to move beyond individual-level solutions to consider the multiple, interacting layers of influence that shape and sustain the experience of chronic pain.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.