The Link between Chronic Pain and Depression in Low Income Country, Pakistan.

Abstract

To examine the relationship of subjective and physiological variables of pain in relation to depression among patients with chronic pain. The cross-sectional study was conducted at the Centre for Clinical Psychology in Lahore, Pakistan, from January to June 2016, and comprised patients with organic, identifiable chronic pain presenting at various government, semi-government and private hospitals. Data was collected using a personal history questionnaire, West Haven-Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory and the depression subscale of the Symptom Checklist Revised. Data was analysed using SPSS 20. There were 186 subjects with a mean age of 46.92±13.92 years. All variables related to chronic pain had significant relationship with depressive symptoms (p<0.05). The relationship between chronic pain and depressive symptoms was found to be significant, and females were at a higher risk than males.