Association of Chronic Low Back Pain with Depression and Anxiety

Background: Chronic low back pain has a great impact on the mental health of an individual. In current practice in India the tolerant of chronic low back pain is seeking help either from orthopedic surgeon or a physiotherapist or traditional medicine and therefore the objective of all these systems mainly focuses on the alleviation of the physical symptoms and improvement of the functional performance. This study will provide a new insight to treating physician or physiotherapist who assess and manage the psychological component of health along with the physical health to achieve optimal health. Objective: To assess the association of chronic low back pain with anxiety and depression. Methodology: The present study aim to correlate chronic low back pain with depression and anxiety. The subjects participated were screened and were ruled out according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. The demographic data of the subjects was collected and they were also instructed to complete the NPRS (Numeric pain rating scale) and HADS (Hospital anxiety and depression scale). Results: The result of the study showed significant positive correlation of low back pain with depression (p<0.002 value) and non-significant correlation with anxiety. Conclusion: The present study demonstrates correlation of chronic low back pain with depression and no significant result with anxiety. Patients with chronic low back pain are more prone to depression than anxiety. While planning treatment protocol psychological component should be taken into account and treatment should be planned accordingly to get better results.