Article

The high prevalence of pain and depression in persons with spinal
cord injury (SCI) is well known. However the link between pain intensity,
interference, and depression, particularly in the acute period of injury, has not
received sufficient attention in the literature. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the
relationship of depression, pain intensity, and pain interference in individuals
undergoing acute inpatient rehabilitation for traumatic SCI. METHODS:
Participants completed a survey that included measures of depression (PHQ-9),
pain intensity ("right now"), and pain interference (Brief Pain Inventory:
general activity, mood, mobility, relations with others, sleep, and enjoyment of
life). Demographic and injury characteristics and information about current use
of antidepressants and pre-injury binge drinking also were collected.
Hierarchical multiple regression was used to test depression models in 3 steps:
(1) age, gender, days since injury, injury level, antidepressant use, and
pre-injury binge drinking (controlling variables); (2) pain intensity; and (3)
pain interference (each tested separately). RESULTS: With one exception, pain
interference was the only statistically significant independent variable in each
of the final models. Although pain intensity accounted for only 0.2% to 1.2% of
the depression variance, pain interference accounted for 13% to 26% of the
variance in depression. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that pain intensity alone
is insufficient for understanding the relationship of pain and depression in
acute SCI. Instead, the ways in which pain interferes with daily life appear to
have a much greater bearing on depression than pain intensity alone in the acute
setting.

Langue : ANGLAIS