Assessment of depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, and quality of life in patients with chronic low back pain in Korea

BACKGROUND Chronic low back pain (CLBP) has a significant effect on quality of life and imposes a great economical burden on society. In a number of studies, validated questionnaires had been given to CLBP patients to determine their health-associated quality of life, sleep disturbance, and psychological status. However, such outcome studies had not been performed previously in Korea. METHODS We used self-report questionnaires to compare CLBP patients with an age- and sex-matched healthy control group. Between September 2012 and August 2013, we enrolled 47 patients who had CLBP for more than 3 months (group P) and 44 healthy age- and sex-matched controls (group C), who completed the following self-report questionnaires: 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). RESULTS The scores from the ODI, BDI, and BAI were significantly higher in group P than in group C. The SF-36 scores were significantly lower in group P than in group C, suggesting lower quality of life in group P. The incidence of depression and anxiety was significantly higher in group P than in group C. However, neither the PSQI score nor the incidence of sleep disturbance was significantly different between the groups. CONCLUSIONS Patients with CLBP showed considerable functional disability and significant impairment of psychological status with a low quality of life. Hence, it is important to evaluate CLBP patients to provide adequate psychological support.