Post-traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety in patients with injury-related chronic pain: A pilot study

AIM To investigate, in patients with injury-related chronic pain, pain intensity, levels of post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depressions. METHODS One hundred and sixty patients aged 17-62 years, admitted for assessment to the Pain Rehabilitation Clinic at the Umeå University Hospital, Umeå Sweden, for chronic pain caused by an injury, answered a set of questionnaires to assess post-traumatic stress (Impact of Event Scale [IES]), pain intensity (VAS), depression, and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HAD]). RESULTS Moderate to severe post-traumatic stress was reported by 48.1% of the patients. Possible-probable anxiety on the HAD was scored by 44.5% and possible-probable depression by 45.2%. Pain intensity (VAS) was significantly correlated to post-traumatic stress (r = 0.183, p = 0.022), the HAD-scores anxiety (r = 0.186, p = 0.0021), and depression (r = 0.252, p = 0.002). No statistically significant differences were found between genders for post-traumatic stress, pain intensity, anxiety, or depression. Participants with moderate to severe stress reaction reported statistically significant higher anxiety scores on the HAD (p = 0.030) in comparison with patients with mild stress. CONCLUSION The findings of relationships between pain intensity, post-traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety may have implications for clinicians and underline the importance of considering all these factors when managing patients with injury-related chronic pain.