Volume 24, Issue 105, September - October, 2020

Prevalence of depression among chronic back pain patients attending district hospital in Malaysia

Mohammad Arshad Ikram^1♦, Philip George², Jasmin Can Wei Ng³, Sinthia Ramani⁴, Saw Yeon Ng⁵, Abdul Rauf Bin Hj Ahmad⁶, Fazrina Ayu Binti Abdul Sani⁷, Denesh Kumar Shunmugam⁸, Andrew Vinesh Susinadan⁹, Syed Shahzad Hasan¹⁰

¹Associate Professor (Author for Correspondence), Orthopaedic Department, International Medical University, Clinical Campus, Seremban, Malaysia.70300; Email: mohammadarshad@imu.edu.my
²Professor, Department of Psychiatry, International Medical University, Clinical Campus, Seremban, Malaysia, 70300; Email: philip_george@imu.edu.my
³Medical Student, International Medical University, Seremban, Malaysia; Email: jasminng95@gmail.com
⁴Medical Student, International Medical University, Seremban, Malaysia; Email: sinthiaramani@yahoo.com
⁵Medical Student, International Medical University, Seremban, Malaysia; Email: Ng.SawYeong@student.imu.edu.my
⁶Consultant Orthopaedic Department Hospital Tuanku Jaafar, Seremban, Malaysia; Email:araufahmad@gmail.com
⁷Specialist Orthopaedic Department, Hospital Tuanku Jaafar, Seremban, Ministry of Health, Malaysia; Email: faslieya_imran79@yahoo.com.my
⁸Medical Officer, Orthopaedic Department, Hospital Tuanku Jaafar, Seremban, Ministry of Health, Malaysia; Email: denesh_sr@hotmail.com
⁹Medical Officer Orthopaedic Department Hospital Tuanku Jaafar, Seremban Ministry of Health, Malaysia; Email: andrewvinesh@gmail.com
¹⁰Senior Lecturer, Department of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, UK. Email: s.hasan@hud.ac.uk

^♦Corresponding author
Associate Professor (Author for Correspondence), Orthopaedic Department, International Medical University, Clinical Campus, Seremban, Malaysia.70300; Email: mohammadarshad@imu.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Background: It is generally agreed that the relationship between chronic low back pain and depression is bidirectional. Depression can complicate the management and interfere with recovery in chronic back pain and similarly, chronic back pain can induce depression. Often if patients with depression are not managed, their back-pain morbidity may be prolonged. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of depression among different ethnic groups with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Methods: A cross-sectional prospective study was done on clinically diagnosed CLBP patients attending orthopaedic clinic at Hospital Tuanku Jaafar, Seremban, Malaysia over twelve months between July and December 2019. The convenience sampling was used to recruit study participants. The Ministry of Health (MOH) pain scale and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) instruments were used to identify the severity of pain and depressive symptoms and to obtain socio-demographic. SPSS was used to evaluate the relationship between demographic factors, pain, and depressive symptoms. Results: A total of 100 patients with CLBP comprising 71 females and 29 males participated in the study. About 68% scored positively on the PHQ-9 with 40% having moderate to severe rating scores. The risk of depressive symptoms increased with the severity of pain. 77.8% of the studied population with severe CLBP experienced depressive symptoms. Among the different ethnic groups, the prevalence of depression in Indians was 83.3%, while it was 58.2% among Malays. Conclusion: This study shows that two-thirds of patients with CLBP have depression, and the prevalence is low in Malays as compare to other races.

Keywords: Chronic back pain, depression, ethnicity, Malaysia, prevalence

Medical Science, 2020, 24(105), 3376-3384

PDF