Abstract
Background
A therapeutic target for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain is the improvement of quality of life (QOL). A multidisciplinary approach to pain management is implemented at the Pain Management Center, Hoshi General Hospital, Japan. We consistently evaluate not only biological pain factors but also pain levels, psychosocial factors associated with pain, and QOL using questionnaires. The study aim was to explore the factors affecting QOL in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain.
Methods
Subjects were 166 patients attending checkups at our pain management center from April 2015 to March 2020 who had valid questionnaire responses. We evaluated age, scores on the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), Pain Catastrophizing Scale, Pain Disability Assessment Scale (PDAS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ), EuroQol Five Dimensions Questionnaire, and Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS). Descriptive statistics were calculated for the 166 patients’ scores. Pearson’s product-moment coefficient correlations were calculated to examine associations among the variables. Subsequent multiple regression analysis, in which QOL was the dependent variable, resulted in a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.58, indicating strong relationships among the variables (p < 0.01).
Results
The standardized regression (beta) coefficients showed significant associations (p < 0.05) among BPI, PDAS, PSEQ, and AIS scores and QOL (EuroQol Five Dimensions Questionnaire scores). However, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and Pain Catastrophizing Scale scores were not strongly associated with QOL.
Conclusions
QOL in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain was strongly related to BPI, PDAS, PSEQ, and AIS scores. We should focus on these factors to improve QOL.
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