Abdulbari Bener1, Elnour Elnaem Dafeeah2, Mohamad Omar Salem3. 1. Department of Medical Statistics & Epidemiology, Hamad Medical Corporation & Dept. of Public Health, Weill Cornell Medical College, Doha, Qatar, Department of Evidence for Population Health Unit, School of Epidemiology and Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, England, United Kingdom. 2. Department of Psychiatry, Rumeilah Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar. 3. Department of Psychiatry, Al-Ahli Hospital, Doha, Qatar.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of Low Back Pain in primary care setting population and to examine its association with symptoms of depression and somatisation. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted at 13 Primary Healthcare Centres (throughout Qatar from March to December, 2012. A General Health Questionnaire was used to identify the probable cases. A specially designed questionnaire with three parts was used for data collection: socio-demographic information of the studied subjects, modified version of the Roland-Morris scale for evaluating back-related functional disability, and Symptom Cheklist-90-Revised for depression and somatisation subscales. RESULTS: A representative sample of 2,600 patients was approached and 1,829(70.0%) of them participated in the study. The prevalence of low back pain in the study sample was 56.5%. There were statistically significant differences between subjects with and without low back pain in terms of body mass index (p< 0.025), gender (p< 0.003) and housing condition (p< 0.001). There was a significant difference between subjects with and without the pain in terms of all aspects of functional disability. Somatisation disorder in low back pain was 203 (19.6%) and depression disorder was 265 (25.4%). Most of the patients with LBP reported pain in the arms and legs (p< 0.001); shortness of breath (p< 0.028) palpitations (p=0.004); gastrointestinal complaints such as abdominal pain (p< 0.001), diarrhoea (p< 0.001) and vomiting (p< 0.001); feeling tired (p< 0.001); trouble with sleeping (p< 0.001); headache (p< 0.001) and fainting (p=0.043). The mode of treatment taken by the patients for relief were bed rest 695 (67.2%) followed by warm compression 480 (47.6%), physiotherapy 491 (47.5%), regular exercise 414 (40%), and back plasters 346 (33.5%). CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that the symptoms of depression and somatisation were prevalent among low back pain patients. Functional disability was higher in the patients. Recognising this problem may lead to better patient-treatment matching and improved clinical outcomes.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of Low Back Pain in primary care setting population and to examine its association with symptoms of depression and somatisation. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted at 13 Primary Healthcare Centres (throughout Qatar from March to December, 2012. A General Health Questionnaire was used to identify the probable cases. A specially designed questionnaire with three parts was used for data collection: socio-demographic information of the studied subjects, modified version of the Roland-Morris scale for evaluating back-related functional disability, and Symptom Cheklist-90-Revised for depression and somatisation subscales. RESULTS: A representative sample of 2,600 patients was approached and 1,829(70.0%) of them participated in the study. The prevalence of low back pain in the study sample was 56.5%. There were statistically significant differences between subjects with and without low back pain in terms of body mass index (p< 0.025), gender (p< 0.003) and housing condition (p< 0.001). There was a significant difference between subjects with and without the pain in terms of all aspects of functional disability. Somatisation disorder in low back pain was 203 (19.6%) and depression disorder was 265 (25.4%). Most of the patients with LBP reported pain in the arms and legs (p< 0.001); shortness of breath (p< 0.028) palpitations (p=0.004); gastrointestinal complaints such as abdominal pain (p< 0.001), diarrhoea (p< 0.001) and vomiting (p< 0.001); feeling tired (p< 0.001); trouble with sleeping (p< 0.001); headache (p< 0.001) and fainting (p=0.043). The mode of treatment taken by the patients for relief were bed rest 695 (67.2%) followed by warm compression 480 (47.6%), physiotherapy 491 (47.5%), regular exercise 414 (40%), and back plasters 346 (33.5%). CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that the symptoms of depression and somatisation were prevalent among low back painpatients. Functional disability was higher in the patients. Recognising this problem may lead to better patient-treatment matching and improved clinical outcomes.
Entities:
Keywords:
Somatisation, Symptoms, Psychiatric disturbance, Treatment, Low back pain, Primary health care.