Investigating the Depression Status in Patients with Upper Limb Pain

Introduction: Depression is considered as the most common psychological problem in societies. Depression, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse are more common in patients with pain compared to the general population. In this study, the state of depression in patients with upper limb pain with radiculopathy or without paraclinical signs of radiculopathy has been investigated. Material and Methods: We conducted the depression status in patients with upper limb pain with and without radiculopathy in a descriptive cross-sectional study in Sari in 2017. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), Short Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36), short-form McGill pain questionnaire was used to evaluate the status of major depressive disorder, health status and quality of life, and severity of pain in them, respectively. The data was analyzed by SPSS 22. Results: From 120 patients with the mean age 44.97±9.77 years, 19% had mild depression, 18% moderate depression and 11% severe depression. The mean score of SF36 was 29.94±6.86. The mean scores of McGill pain scale was 13.31±6.02. The mean depression score had a significant difference between the two groups studied (P=0.04). The McGill pain score had also a significant difference between the two study groups (P=0.012). The mean score of SF36 had no significant difference in both groups (P=0.41).Conclusion: The depression score and the prevalence of moderate and severe depression were also higher in patients with chronic upper limb pain with cervical radiculopathy than in patients without cervical radiculopathy.