Is shoulder pain for three months or longer correlated with depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance?

Recent studies have found a high prevalence of depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. We conducted a study to determine whether shoulder pain for 3 months or longer is correlated with depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance.

We prospectively evaluated 130 patients who had had shoulder pain for 3 months or longer (group I) and 60 healthy controls (group II). We obtained visual analog scale (VAS) pain score, and scores for the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES), Korean Shoulder Scale (KSS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).

The mean VAS pain score, ASES score, and KSS score in group I were 6.2, 46.6, and 51.5, respectively. In that group, 22.3% had depression, 19.2% had anxiety, and 81.5% had sleep disturbance. The prevalences were higher in group I than in group II. There were no differences in depression, anxiety, or sleep disturbance by age, sex, type of disease, or duration of symptoms in group I. VAS pain scores positively correlated with PSQI scores (P = .01). ASES and KSS scores negatively correlated with HADS depression and anxiety subscale and PSQI scores (P < .001). Shoulder pain for 3 months or longer was the strongest predictor of sleep disturbance (P < .001).

Our study demonstrated high prevalence and close relationships of depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance in patients with shoulder pain for 3 months or longer. These results may indicate importance of the psychologic approach as well as adequate pain control.