An analysis of patients with chronic pain amid COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional observational trial

Abstract

Context: The unpredictable nature of COVID-19 pandemic and the limited patient–doctor interaction led to the change in chronic pain management during the pandemic. Aims: The study aimed to compare pain scores and bio-psycho-social aspects of chronic pain in patients during prepandemic versus COVID-19 pandemic period. Settings and Designs: This was a prospective, cross-sectional observational trial conducted in a tertiary care hospital. Subjects and Methods: The study was conducted between September 2021 and January 2022 which corresponded with the end of the second wave and beginning of the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic. A set of 20 web-based questionnaires were sent to adult patients of both genders and who had visited pain clinic before the onset of pandemic. Statistical Analysis Use: Discrete categorical data were presented as n (%); continuous data were written either in the form of its mean and standard deviation or in the form of its median and interquartile range. All statistical tests were two-sided and were performed at a significance level of P < 0.05. Results: A total of 408 patients of chronic pain participated in the web-based questionnaire. The most common diagnosis was low back pain, facial pain, and knee pain. The patients continued to consume analgesics during the pandemic, had ≥2 burnout score, and reported “poor to fair” quality of sleep score. During the pandemic, pain score increased in those subsets of patients who earlier had no pain (odds ratio [OR]: 68.33, confidence interval [CI]: 24.10–193.72, P = 0.000), mild pain (OR: 22.78, CI: 9.49–54.64, P = 0.000), and moderate pain. On the contrary, chronic pain decreased or remained same in the population having moderate or severe pain before the pandemic. Patients with increased pain during the pandemic wanted the outpatient department to reopen for consultation with pain physician. The majority of the patients 350 (85.78%) who had participated in the study did not suffer from COVID-19 infection. Conclusions: Regular intake of analgesics during the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the number of patients experiencing severe pain. However, the patients suffering from moderate-to-severe pain during the pandemic had a direct correlation between higher pain severity and poor quality of sleep.