Analyzing transition from acute back pain to chronic pain with linear mixed models reveals a continuous chronification of acute back pain

摘要

In this issue of the Scandinavian Journal of Pain Bendayan and co-workers from Spain, UK, and USA publish an interesting 24 months long follow-up study of 232 patients from Malaga with acute back pain at baseline [ 1 ]. They followed changes in pain intensity, associated disability and depression, and they could document that pain intensity decreased rapidly during the first three months and typically changed only slowly during the next 21 months. Accompanying depressed mood assessed with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) changed slowly during the entire 24 months period. Disability assessed with the Roland-Morris Questionnaire also decreased only slightly during the entire 24 months period of follow-up. Women and elderly patients reported higher pain intensities and pain-related disabilities during the first three months than men and younger patients.