Mental health indicators and quality of life among individuals with musculoskeletal chronic pain: a nationwide study in Iceland

Abstract

Objectives: Musculoskeletal chronic pain is a costly public health threat. The aim of our study was to investigate mental health indicators, including self-reported symptoms of depression, sleep disruption, stress, well-being, and quality of life (QoL), among men and women with musculoskeletal chronic pain in a general population.

Method: This was a cross-sectional study; a postal questionnaire was mailed to a stratified random sample of 9807 eligible Icelanders retrieved from a national registry, of whom 5906 responded (response rate = 60.2%). Chronic pain conditions included reports of current chronic back pain, chronic neck symptoms, and/or fibromyalgia. Gender-stratified associations of chronic pain conditions with mental health indicators were estimated with logistic regression analyses adjusting for age, income, body mass index (BMI), smoking, education, and residence.

Results: We observed higher odds of low satisfaction with life [adjusted odds ratio (OR^adj) women 2.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.5–2.6; OR^adj men 2.3, 95% CI 1.7–3.1], higher levels of perceived stress (OR^adj women 1.7, 95% CI 1.3–2.2; OR^adj men = 1.5, 95% CI 1.1–2.1), depressive symptoms (OR^adj women 2.4, 95% CI 1.9–3.0; OR^adj men 2.8, 95% CI 2.1–3.7), and sleep disruption (OR^adj women 2.8, 95% CI 2.2–3.5; OR^adj men 2.2, 95% CI 1.5–3.1), and diminished QoL (OR^adj women 1.6, 95% CI 1.2–2.1; OR^adj men 1.5, 95% CI 1.0–2.1) among individuals with chronic pain compared with those without the condition.

Conclusions: Our data indicate that individuals with musculoskeletal chronic pain have increased risk of poor mental health and diminished QoL. Further studies are needed on treatment and preventative measures of a decline in mental health among individuals with chronic pain.

Acknowledgements

This project was funded by grants from the Association of Icelandic Physical Therapists and from the Lifelong Learning Centre in Southern Iceland. We thank the Public Health Institute for providing access to the data from the health survey.