Relationship Between Psychological Factors and Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain

Low back pain has frequently been mentioned as the most common sort of chronic pain, and numerous studies have confirmed its influence on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Despite a great deal of research demonstrating the important part that psychological factors play in explaining HRQoL, a therapeutic setting that prioritizes the physical domain still predominates. For this reason, the aim of this study is to assess the relationship between age, pain intensity, pain catastrophizing, depression, anxiety, pain-related anxiety, chronic pain acceptance and the psychological and physical dimensions of HRQoL in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP).

Data were collected from 201 patients with CLBP using sociodemographic data, the SF-36 Health Status Questionnaire (SF-36), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale Short Form 20 (PASS-20), the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), the Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ-8) and the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NRS). The linear regression model for the dependent variable of Physical Health (SF-36 PhyH) was statistically significant (F (7, 201) = 38.951, p < 0.05), explaining 57.6% of the variance regarding the Physical Health dimension of HRQL in patients with CLBP.

The linear regression model for the dependent variable of Psychological Health (SF-36 PsyH) was statistically significant (F (7, 200) = 39.049, p < 0.05), explaining 57.7% of the variance regarding the Psychological Health dimension of HRQL in patients with CLBP.

The findings of this study confirm that age, pain intensity, depression, pain-related anxiety and chronic pain acceptance are significant predictors of the physical dimension of HRQoL, while pain intensity, anxiety and depression proved to be significant predictors of the psychological dimension of HRQoL in patients with CLBP.