Abstract
Background It is a well established fact that patients with chronic pain commonly present with a range of inter-related problems far beyond the pain itself. There is a growing body of evidence that psychological distress, fatigue and some socio-demographic factors are part of these inter-related problems and play significant roles in the exacerbation of chronic pain experience. This study assessed the subjective psychological distress and multidimensional fatigue, as well as age, gender, duration of pain, and work status of the Chronic Pain Patients attending pain management clinics at Trafford Health Care Trust. The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship of these factors to the patient’s chronic pain experience. The information will be useful in making informed decision regarding the provision of multidisciplinary treatment approach for these patients.
Methods The study was a prospective survey and adopted a co-relational design. Participants were volunteers drawn from the patients attending the pain management clinic between February and May, 2011. The criterion for inclusion were clinically diagnosed chronic pain patient consented to participate in the filling of the questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into sections A, B, and C. Section A obtained socio-demographic information; section B contained the 12-items General Health questionnaire (GHQ-12) to measure their subjective psychological well being and establish the presence of psychological distress; while section C was a Short form 20-items Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory(MFI). The MFI has five subscales including general Fatigue, physical fatigue, reduced activity, reduced motivation and mental fatigue. Sections A and B are psychometrically sound scales and has been widely used in research. The authors of GHQ-12 suggested a criterion score of 4 as basis for further psychological investigation among patients with medical problems.
Results The total numbers during this period were 51, with a mean age of 58.3 years. In section B (GHQ-12), 61% of the patients scored above the criteria of 4 adopted in this study. In section C, 90%, 94%, 86%, 78% and 60% of the participants scored above average on subscales of general fatigue, physical fatigue, reduced activities, reduced motivation and mental fatigue respectively. A significant positive relationship exists between psychological distress and fatigue of all dimensions. Also, younger patients are more likely to report more psychological distress and mental fatigue than older patients. The mean duration of pain was 6.96 years. There was no significant relationship between duration of pain and other observed variables.
Conclusion There is a strong presence of psychological distress and multidimensional fatigue among the participated chronic pain patients. The fact that the majority of the participants reported physical fatigue found support from previous studies. The need for more extensive psychological assessment is implied. A combination of cognitive behavioural (CBT) and insight therapy that will teach skills to enhance activities, increase motivation, how to pace to combat physical fatigue and also dig out hidden factors causing psychological distress is implicated.
Methods The study was a prospective survey and adopted a co-relational design. Participants were volunteers drawn from the patients attending the pain management clinic between February and May, 2011. The criterion for inclusion were clinically diagnosed chronic pain patient consented to participate in the filling of the questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into sections A, B, and C. Section A obtained socio-demographic information; section B contained the 12-items General Health questionnaire (GHQ-12) to measure their subjective psychological well being and establish the presence of psychological distress; while section C was a Short form 20-items Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory(MFI). The MFI has five subscales including general Fatigue, physical fatigue, reduced activity, reduced motivation and mental fatigue. Sections A and B are psychometrically sound scales and has been widely used in research. The authors of GHQ-12 suggested a criterion score of 4 as basis for further psychological investigation among patients with medical problems.
Results The total numbers during this period were 51, with a mean age of 58.3 years. In section B (GHQ-12), 61% of the patients scored above the criteria of 4 adopted in this study. In section C, 90%, 94%, 86%, 78% and 60% of the participants scored above average on subscales of general fatigue, physical fatigue, reduced activities, reduced motivation and mental fatigue respectively. A significant positive relationship exists between psychological distress and fatigue of all dimensions. Also, younger patients are more likely to report more psychological distress and mental fatigue than older patients. The mean duration of pain was 6.96 years. There was no significant relationship between duration of pain and other observed variables.
Conclusion There is a strong presence of psychological distress and multidimensional fatigue among the participated chronic pain patients. The fact that the majority of the participants reported physical fatigue found support from previous studies. The need for more extensive psychological assessment is implied. A combination of cognitive behavioural (CBT) and insight therapy that will teach skills to enhance activities, increase motivation, how to pace to combat physical fatigue and also dig out hidden factors causing psychological distress is implicated.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 5-98 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 9 May 2012 |