Abstract
Introduction The management of neuropathic pain remains complex, generally because of the psychiatric comorbidity that is often underdiagnosed. The objectives of our work were to determine the link between depression and the characteristics of NP on the one hand and quality of life on the other hand, in a sample of subjects consulting for neuropathic pain (NP) regardless of etiology. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 61 neuropathic pain consulting patients in whom we assessed five parameters, namely, neuropathic pain based on DN4, pain intensity using EVA, anxiety, and depression according to the HADS and quality of life. Results The study population mean age was 52.71 ± 14.29 years while the sex ratio (m/f) was 0.52. The neuropathic pain's most common etiologies were postherpetic pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and diabetic neuropathy. Depression and anxiety prevailed by 65.6% and 73.7%, respectively. The quality of life was impaired with average SF-12 physical and mental scores of 33.76 ± 8.03 and 37.78 ± 11.52, respectively. The overall mean BPI score was 5.53 ± 1.76. Patients with high DN4 scores were significantly more depressed (p=0.025). A significantly positive association was found between the depression score and the pain intensity (p=0.001, r = 0.41). Depressed subjects had a poor quality of life according to SF-12 and BPI. Conclusion Given the depressive comorbidity impact on the neuropathic pain components as well as the quality of life, screening for this comorbidity should be part of the baseline ND assessment.
Highlights
Pain is a reason for frequent consultations in medicine [1]
A total of 61 patients were included in our study among whom forty-three were recruited from the pain treatment center (PTC) and 18 were recruited from the Functional Exploration Service. e population consisted of 40 women and 21 men, with a sex ratio of 0.52. e group average age was 52.71 ± 14.29 years. 72.1% of the study population were married, and 75.6% had some type of education
We found a positive correlation between depression and pain intensity. is result is consistent with those reported in the literature where emotional distress has been found to vary with the pain severity [7, 26,27,28]
Summary
Pain is a reason for frequent consultations in medicine [1]. It is an “unpleasant sensory and emotional experience, associated with actual or potential tissue injury or described in terms suggestive of such injury,” IASP (International Association for the Study of Pain), 1979. Since 1994, NP has been defined by the IASP as “pain initiated or caused by primary injury or dysfunction of the nervous system.”. According to Averill et al [4], depression stands out as one of the most common psychological disturbances of pain. This disorder remains most often underdiagnosed, delaying these pains’ therapeutic management
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