Trait-anxiety and pain intensity predict symptoms related to dysfunctional breathing (DB) in patients with chronic pain

Abstract

Abstract Aims The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to inves-tigate the occurrence of symptoms related to dysfunctional breathing (DB) in chronic pain patients and to examine factors associated with these symptoms. Methods A questionnaire was sent to 527 adults referred to out-patient pain clinics at Oslo university hospital. The questionnaire provided demographic data, Brief Pain Inventory, Spielberger state- trait anxiety inventory, and Nijmegen questionnaire (NQ). Multiple regression analyses were performed using SPSS. Results A total of 108 patients (20%) responded to the questionnaire and was included. Mean age was 49 years and two third of the participants were female. More than four out of ten had a NQ score ≥ 23 (a conservative cutoff value for DB). The median NQ score in the sample was 19. Trait-anxiety (Beta = .412, p < 0.001) and maximal pain intensity during the past week (Beta = .264, p = 0.004) predicted symptoms related to DB even when controlling for age and gender. Conclusions The study shows that a large portion of patients with chronic pain experiences symptoms that have been associated with hyperventilation and DB and at a higher level than previously reported. Although trait-anxiety is a strong predictor for symptoms related to DB, we find it interesting that maximal pain intensity during the last week also was associated with these symptoms. The cross-sectional design, low response rate, and lack of diagnoses limit our ability to draw conclusions about causal relationship and extrapolate to a larger populations of patients with chronic pain.