Impact of chronic pain on psychological, cognitive issues and quality of life

Introduction Chronic pain represents a stressful event in patient’s life that causes significant changes, affecting on all aspects of individual's life. Following holistic approach, the psychological and cognitive aspects as well as the quality of life have to be taken into exam, in order to give to the patients an appropriate psychological and pharmacological support. The objective of this research is to study the effects of chronic pain on quality of life. Method Consecutive patients affected by chronic pain at the Pain Therapy Clinic of Policlinico Hospital of Bari were enrolled. They have been te- sted with a battery of neuropsychological and psychodiagnostic trials (Standard Progressive Matrices, Brief Pain Inventory, Beliefs about Medication Questionnaire, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) and with a questionnaire of Quality of Life (Short Form-36 Health Survey). Results The sample consisted of 51 patients (27 women/ 24 men), between 30 and 70 years old. High levels of anxiety (54,9%) and depression (52,9%) were found. Both interfere with physical, mental, emotional and social functioning of patients. Education seems to be a protecti- ve factor, because patients with more years of schooling are able to manage better painful situations (p<0,005). The anxious individuals and those which perceived greater pain interference in daily activities, have significantly poorer performance in cognitive tasks (p<0,001). Conclusions Chronic pain leads a state of anxiety that causes in turn a decrease in patient’s performance. These results underline the importance of psychological evaluation and therapies and highlight also the need for further research on the treatment of chronic pain and psychological complications connected to it.