Psychological and functional profiles in select subjects with low back pain

Area of Science:

• Orthopedics
• Psychology
• Pain Management

Background:

• The relationship between psychological profiles and low back pain outcomes is debated.
• It's unclear if psychological factors cause poor outcomes or result from pain.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the link between psychometric test scores and the presence/duration of various low back pain causes.
• To compare psychological profiles across different low back pain etiologies.

Main Methods:

• Prospective observational study comparing 310 patients with low back pain to 73 asymptomatic controls.
• Utilized Modified Zung, Modified Somatic Pain Questionnaire, VAS, Low Back Pain Questionnaire, and Oswestry Disability Questionnaire.
• Included patients with discogenic pain, spondylolisthesis, osteomyelitis, and a non-patient group with chronic low back pain.

Main Results:

• Discogenic pain patients had the poorest functional scores and most abnormal psychological profiles (21% normal).
• Spondylolisthesis, osteomyelitis, and untreated chronic low back pain groups showed higher rates of normal psychological scores.
• Pain levels and duration were similar across most low back pain groups.

Conclusions:

• Discogenic back pain is associated with significantly poorer function and psychological scores compared to other chronic low back pain types.
• Chronic mechanical low back pain in healthy individuals without seeking care is not linked to abnormal psychological scores or disability.