Neuropathic pain's biopsychosocial effects

The aim of our study is to understand neuropathic pain's social, psychological, and biological effects on the patients. All of the patients who were diagnosed with neuropathic pain (NP) by a neurologist were invited to participate in the study. The diagnoses were made based on the patients' history and symptoms and the results of their neurological examinations. Demographic characteristics (age and pain duration), diagnoses, and medical histories of the patients were recorded. Average daily pain intensity was measured using a 100-mm visual analogue scale (VAS). Quality of life was measured with RAND 36-Item Health Survey 1.0. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to examine the quality of sleep, and Beck Depression Scale was used to examine depression status of the patients. A total of 26 patients (14 male, 12 female) between 33 and 79 years of age participated in the study. There were no dropouts from the study. Eleven (42.3%) patients' mood was normal and the others (57.7%) had different levels of depression. Two patients' (7.7%) quality of sleep was normal, but 24 (92.3%) of the patients' quality of sleep was poor. The patients' pain intensity was at an important and high value (VAS: 6.88). The most important result of this clinical study was that the biopsychosocial approach would be appropriate to understand and treat NP. The biopsychosocial approach to pain addresses psychological, sociocultural factors, and biomedical/physiological aspects. We wanted to draw attention to NP's psychological, emotional and sociocultural characteristics to show that the NP treatment can be applied within this framework.