Assessment of Depression in Chronic Back Pain Patients in Urban-rural areas

도농 지역에서 만성 요통 환자의 우울증 평가

This study was undertaken to investigate the severity of depression and to analyze various factors related to depression in chronic back pain patients in urban-rural areas. In this study, 30 patients who suffered from back pain more than 6 months, and 30 normal subjects who had similar demographic characteristics as the patient group were evaluated using the Back Depression Inventory(BDI). Various factors such as age, sex, causes of back pain, vocational history, pain continuity, visual analogue scale(VAS), duration of pain, type of management, and urban or rural residence were recorded for the study group. The results are 1) The study group revealed higher BDI scores than the control group(p＜0.05). 2) The patients who were older and had higher VAS, longer duration of pain, or previous history of surgical management for back pain, and an urban 033residence revealed higher BDI scores(p<0.05). 3) The BDI scores were not significantly influenced by the subjects' sex, causes of back pain, pain continuity, and vocational history in the study group(p>0.05). From this study, we concluded that a Psychosocial approach is required for the management of chronic back pain patients. Also, it is necessary to assess the factors, which are making depression worse in other chronic diseases for comprehensive rehabilitation.