Demographic and clinical factors associated with psychological wellbeing in people with chronic, non-specific musculoskeletal pain engaged in multimodal rehabilitation: -a cross-sectional study with a correlational design

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate which demographic and clinical factors were associated with psychological wellbeing in working-aged people in multimodal rehabilitation for musculoskeletal disorders.

Methods: 116 participants met the criteria for inclusion: persistent or intermittent pain for at least three months; pain that adversely impacts daily life; potential for active change despite pain; no co-morbidity or condition that will hinder participation in the rehabilitation program. Primary outcome was psychological wellbeing and independent measures were general, physical and mental health, pain intensity, limitations in daily life, depression and sleep.

Results: The results show decreased odds of psychological wellbeing for persons rating high on depression. The results remained significant after adjusting for sex and age. Being a woman increased the odds of high psychological wellbeing. Logistic regression showed that psychological wellbeing was not significantly associated with pain intensity; sleep; functional limitations; general, physical, or mental health. None of the other independent variables was significantly associated with high vs. low psychological wellbeing.

Conclusions: Depression turned out to be significantly related to psychological wellbeing, contrary to pain and limitations in daily life. If further studies with larger, random samples can confirm these results, this knowledge may be important both in clinical settings and in future research.

Keywords: depression; health; limitations in daily life; musculoskeletal disorders; pain; wellbeing.