Assessment and correlation of perceived harmfulness with psychological variables in patients with chronic shoulder pain

Abstract

Background: Chronic pain can provoke emotional reactions, such as fear or even terror, depending on what we believe about the pain signals. Chronic pain can be difficult to treat, affecting the patients psychologically causing fear avoidance in them. Patients with chronic condition often suffer catastrophizing pain and perceived harmfulness. Thus, assessing perceived harmfulness in chronic shoulder pain is utmost important. Methods: Patients (N = 48) with chronic shoulder pain (duration more than 3 months) were enrolled for the study. They were administered Photograph series of daily activities-upper extremity (PHODA-UE-110), Tampa scale of kinesiophobia (TSK-11), Pain catastrophizing scale (PCS-4), Shoulder pain and disability index (SPADI). Their responses were statistically analyzed using Pearson's co-efficient. Results: The mean scores of the outcome studied were, PHODA-UE scores were 42 ± 8.43, 95% CI [40.41, 45.32], TSK scores were 28.77 ± 3.70, 95% CI [27.69, 29.84], PCS scores were 8.39 ± 2.54, 95% CI [7.65, 9.13], SPADI (Pain) scores were 81 ± 9.5, 95% CI [78.22, 13.32] and SPADI (Disability) scores were 79 ± 13.32, 95% CI [75.12, 82.87]. Following correlations were found to be significant: PHODA-UE with TSK (r = −0.32, p = 0.02, 95% CI [−0.56, −0.04]), PHODA-UE with PCS (r = −0.49, p = <0.0003, 95% CI [−0.68, 0.24]), TSK with SPADI (Disability) (r = −0.41, p = 0.003, 95% CI [−0.62, 0.15]) and TSK with PCS (r = +0.40, p = 0.004, 95% CI [0.13, 0.61]). Conclusions: The present study reveals that the patients evaluated demonstrated low perceived harmfulness in spite of the chronic pain. Correlations between perceived harmfulness and psychological variables showed weak correlations.

Keywords

• Chronic
• kinesiophobia
• perceived harmfulness
• shoulder pain