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Chronic Pain and Depression in Low Back (Spinal) Injured Patients

Received: 22 August 2019     Accepted: 11 September 2019     Published: 24 September 2019
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Abstract

Depression caused by physical dysfunction and associated symptoms as the aftermath of the low back (spinal) injury is commonly undiagnosed and untreated. In this paper, based on our clinical experience, we have described a relation between depression and lumbosacral injury. In our research, we selected 54 (26 female and 28 male) patients in two different groups: (1) those whose low back injury occurred less than 12 months before research commenced; and (2) those whose injuries occurred more than 12 months before the research (their condition has been considered as a chronic). All of the patients (n=54) were assessed by using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) in order to evaluate their level of depression. The results show that low back (spinal) injured patients suffered depression due to their body discomfort and changed day-to-day capacities. Those who sustained injury more than one year developed an upper level of a moderate depression. However, if not taking any treatment following their psychological disturbances, the patients had suffered a severe depression. Their level of depression increases with a chronicity of the physical pain making also depression as a chronic disorder.

Published in American Journal of Applied Psychology (Volume 8, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajap.20190805.11
Page(s) 89-97
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Depression, Low Back Injury, Psychosomatic Symptoms, Dysfunction

References
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[2] Linton, SJ. & Shaw, WS.: Impact of Psychological Factors in the Experience of Pain, Physical Therapy, 5, 2011.
[3] Zepinic, V.: Post-injury chronic low back pain and depression: Comparative study between early and late post-injury sufferers show significant differences, International Journal of Health Science, 3, 2009.
[4] American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), APA, Washington DC, 2013.
[5] Bradley, WG. Daroff, RB. Fenichel, CM. Jankovic, J. (eds.): Neurology in Clinical Practice, 4th ed, Butterworth & Heinemann, Philadelphia, 2004.
[6] Berkov, R. & Beers, MH. (eds.): The Merck Manual, 19th ed, Merck & Co, New York 1999.
[7] Pincus, T. Burton, AK. Vogel, S. Field, AP.: A systematic review of psychological factors as predictors of chronicity/disability in prospective cohort of low back pain, Spine, 25, 2002.
[8] Zepinic, V.: Fear of the “Floodgate of Liability” and Acknowledgment of the Recognisable Psychiatric Damage into English Law of Tort, Canadian Social Science, 4, 2015.
[9] Levenson, JA. (ed.): Textbook of Psychosomatic Medicine, American Psychiatric Publishing, Washington DC, 2005.
[10] Atkinson, JH. Slater, MA. Patterson, TL. Grant, I. Garfin, SR.: Prevalence, onset, and risk of psychiatric disorders in men with chronic low back pain, Pain Medicine, 45, 1991.
[11] Beck, AT. & Steer, RA.: Beck Depression Inventory Manual, Psychological Corporation, San Antonio, 1993.
[12] Beck, AT.: Depression: Causes and Treatment, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1967.
[13] Montgomery, SA. & Asberg, M.: A new depression scale designed to be sensitive to change, British Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 1979.
[14] Davidson, J. Turnbull, CD. Strickland, R. et al.: The Montgomery-Asberg Depressive Scale: Reliability and Validity, Acta Psychiatric Scandinavica, 74, 1986.
[15] Goldman, RS. Robinson, D. Grube, BS. Hans, RA. et al.: General Psychiatric Symptoms Measures, In Rush, AJ. et al, (eds.).: Handbook of Psychiatric Measures, American Psychiatric Association, Washington DC, 2000.
[16] Holmes, A. Christells, N. Arnold, C.: Depression and chronic pain, Medical Journal of Australia, 1, 2012.
[17] Bair, MJ. Robinson, RL. Katona, W. Kroenke, K.: Depression and pain comorbidity: A literature review, Archive of Internal Medicine, 163, 2003.
[18] Larson, SL. Clark, MR. Eaton, WW.: Depressive disorders as a long-term antecedent risk factor for incident back pain: A thirteen-year follow-up study from the Baltimore Epidemiological Catchment Area sample, Psychological Medicine, 34, 2004.
[19] Bodner, DR. Seftel, AD. Ducharme, SH.: Sexual and Psychological Aspects of Rehabilitation After Spinal Cord Injury, In Stoudemire, A. Fogel, SB. Greenberg, DB. (eds.): Psychiatric Care of the Medical Patients, 2nd ed, Oxford University Press, New York, 2000.
[20] Zepinic, V. & Kuzmanovski, B.: Support person (Co-therapist) in the Treatment of Panic Disorder, Canadian Social Science Journal, 12, 2017.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Vito Zepinic, Blagoj Kuzmanovski. (2019). Chronic Pain and Depression in Low Back (Spinal) Injured Patients. American Journal of Applied Psychology, 8(5), 89-97. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20190805.11

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    ACS Style

    Vito Zepinic; Blagoj Kuzmanovski. Chronic Pain and Depression in Low Back (Spinal) Injured Patients. Am. J. Appl. Psychol. 2019, 8(5), 89-97. doi: 10.11648/j.ajap.20190805.11

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    AMA Style

    Vito Zepinic, Blagoj Kuzmanovski. Chronic Pain and Depression in Low Back (Spinal) Injured Patients. Am J Appl Psychol. 2019;8(5):89-97. doi: 10.11648/j.ajap.20190805.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajap.20190805.11,
      author = {Vito Zepinic and Blagoj Kuzmanovski},
      title = {Chronic Pain and Depression in Low Back (Spinal) Injured Patients},
      journal = {American Journal of Applied Psychology},
      volume = {8},
      number = {5},
      pages = {89-97},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajap.20190805.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20190805.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajap.20190805.11},
      abstract = {Depression caused by physical dysfunction and associated symptoms as the aftermath of the low back (spinal) injury is commonly undiagnosed and untreated. In this paper, based on our clinical experience, we have described a relation between depression and lumbosacral injury. In our research, we selected 54 (26 female and 28 male) patients in two different groups: (1) those whose low back injury occurred less than 12 months before research commenced; and (2) those whose injuries occurred more than 12 months before the research (their condition has been considered as a chronic). All of the patients (n=54) were assessed by using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) in order to evaluate their level of depression. The results show that low back (spinal) injured patients suffered depression due to their body discomfort and changed day-to-day capacities. Those who sustained injury more than one year developed an upper level of a moderate depression. However, if not taking any treatment following their psychological disturbances, the patients had suffered a severe depression. Their level of depression increases with a chronicity of the physical pain making also depression as a chronic disorder.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Chronic Pain and Depression in Low Back (Spinal) Injured Patients
    AU  - Vito Zepinic
    AU  - Blagoj Kuzmanovski
    Y1  - 2019/09/24
    PY  - 2019
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20190805.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajap.20190805.11
    T2  - American Journal of Applied Psychology
    JF  - American Journal of Applied Psychology
    JO  - American Journal of Applied Psychology
    SP  - 89
    EP  - 97
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5672
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20190805.11
    AB  - Depression caused by physical dysfunction and associated symptoms as the aftermath of the low back (spinal) injury is commonly undiagnosed and untreated. In this paper, based on our clinical experience, we have described a relation between depression and lumbosacral injury. In our research, we selected 54 (26 female and 28 male) patients in two different groups: (1) those whose low back injury occurred less than 12 months before research commenced; and (2) those whose injuries occurred more than 12 months before the research (their condition has been considered as a chronic). All of the patients (n=54) were assessed by using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) in order to evaluate their level of depression. The results show that low back (spinal) injured patients suffered depression due to their body discomfort and changed day-to-day capacities. Those who sustained injury more than one year developed an upper level of a moderate depression. However, if not taking any treatment following their psychological disturbances, the patients had suffered a severe depression. Their level of depression increases with a chronicity of the physical pain making also depression as a chronic disorder.
    VL  - 8
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    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • PsychClinic P/L, London, United Kingdom

  • Family Medical Clinic, Sydney, Australia

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