The Garcia de Orta 2023 Prize, worth 5,000 euros, was awarded to Inês Oliveira, a PhD student at CIS-Iscte and psychomotor trainer at Garcia de Orta Hospital, for the study Sensing the body matters: Profiles of interoceptive sensibility in chronic pain adjustment.
This work, recently accepted for publication in the scientific journal PAIN, identified skill profiles of Interoceptive Sensitivity - the self-reported experience of the ability to feel, interpret and self-regulate internal sensations - in individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Furthermore, the study provides evidence for the role of interoceptive sensitivity in the adjustment to chronic pain, particularly at the level of psychological and behavioral processes that are protective and/or of risk for pain persistence. The data from this study allow for refining theoretical pain models by explaining body-mind interactions, and contributing to the development of personalized interventions, improving the adjustment to chronic pain.
Inês Oliveira, a psychomotor trainer at the Psychiatry Department and in collaboration with the Pain Unit of that Hospital, developed this study as part of her doctoral project funded by FCT (Ref. 2020.05586.BD), carried out at CIS-Iscte and supervised by researchers Sónia Bernardes and Margarida Garrido. Helena Carvalho (CIES-Iscte) is also an author of this article. Inês stated that
"It is very satisfying to see this work recognized through the Garcia de Orta Award, and I feel grateful to the Garcia de Orta Hospital for promoting this initiative."
Since 2014, the Garcia de Orta Award aims to reward the best original scientific work published by professionals from that institution. The full article will soon be available on the PAIN's website.