Abstract

LEON, Leticia et al. EARLY APPEARANCE OF THE CHRONIC PAIN PATTERN IN SUBACUTE MUSCULOSKELETAL PATIENTS. Cienc. Psicol. [online]. 2012, vol.6, n.2, pp.175-182. ISSN 1688-4221.

The chronic pain pattern implies high levels of negative emotions, pain and perceived disability disability perceived. Up to date few studies have assessed when this chronic pain pattern appears. This study is aimed at exploring this issue. Methods: were evaluated 146 subjects with 4 weeks sick leave due to musculoskeletal diseases (MSDs) and 95 with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). All patients completed the following assessment instruments: the Sadness and Depression Questionnaire (CTD), Anxiety situations and responses. Inventory -Brief form- (ISRA-B), Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), a visual analogy scale for intensity of pain and a likert type scale for the frequency of pain. The analyses included a comparison on the scores of the tests between patients on sick leave due to MD compared to RA patients. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were performed. Results: Patients on sick leave due to MD and RA patients reported similar perception of their disability, showing a high HAQ score mean. Patients on sick leave due to MD reported more perceived frequency and intensity of pain than RA patients. In relation to negative emotions, both groups reported similar high levels with some poorer levels for RA patients compared to patients on sick leave due to MD for cognitive, evaluation and life situations anxiety. Depression scores presented the same levels for both patients groups. Conclusions: Our study shows that patients with subacute pain/disability and chronic pain/disability report very similar pattern for negative emotions and perception of pain and disability, suggesting that these factors appear in an early stage and contributing to the transition from acute to chronic pain/disability.

Keywords : chronic pain; negative emotions; disability; musculoskeletal diseases.

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