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Depression, mood state, and back pain during microgravity simulated by bed rest
J R Styf1, K Hutchinson, S G Carlsson
1Life Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, CA, USA. jorna.styf@orthop.gu.se
Objective:
The objective of this study was to develop a ground-based model for spinal adaptation to microgravity and to study the effects of spinal adaptation on depression, mood state, and pain intensity.
Methods:
We investigated back pain, mood state, and depression in six subjects, all of whom were exposed to microgravity, simulated by two forms of bed rest, for 3 days. One form consisted of bed rest with 6 degrees of head-down tilt and balanced traction, and the other consisted of horizontal bed rest. Subjects had a 2-week period of recovery between the studies. The effects of bed rest on pain intensity in the lower back, depression, and mood state were investigated.
Results:
Subjects experienced significantly more intense lower back pain, lower hemisphere abdominal pain, headache, and leg pain during head-down tilt bed rest. They had higher scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (ie, were more depressed) and significantly lower scores on the activity scale of the Bond-Lader questionnaire.
Conclusions:
Bed rest with 6 degrees of head-down tilt may be a better experimental model than horizontal bed rest for inducing the pain and psychosomatic reactions experienced in microgravity. Head-down tilt with balanced traction may be a useful method to induce low back pain, mood changes, and altered self-rated activity level in bed rest studies.
