Evaluation of patients with chronic low back pain: intensity of pain, disability and depression

Background and aims: The chronic low back pain represents a problem of high incidence and prevalence around the world causing severe consequences in people's daily lives. In order to evaluate the pain perception, patients suffering from chronic low back pain were analyzed and their pain intensity, the level of disability, depression and the correlation of these variables were investigated. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study. An 11-points Likert scale were used to measure pain intensity, while a Roland-Morris questionnaire aimed to assess the disability and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The data collection occurred in an outpatient pain clinic with the consent of all patients analyzed and was approved by the Ethics Committee of UFSCar. An exploratory analysis was performed and the Spearman Correlation Coefficient (rs) was applied. Results: The sample consisted of 97 patients, with the prevalence of women (69%), the mean age was 54.2 years, the average level of disability was 14.6, the intensity of pain perceived as the greatest in the last week, less in the last week and during this interview was respectively 8.0, 4.2, 5.4. The average rate of depression was 15.3 points. The results showed a positive correlation between depression and pain intensity (r(s)=.24 to .34, p<05), disability and pain intensity (r(s)=.22 to .45, p<.05) and disability and depression (r(s)=.57, p<.05). Conclusion: The data suggest that the patients analyzed have a severe disability, a pain intensity ranging from moderate to severe and a mild depression moderately associated with disability.