Introduction: Musculoskeletal injury is a common cause of impairment (pathophysiology), but the correlation of impairment with pain intensity and magnitude of disability is limited. Psychosocial factors explain a large proportion of the variance in disability for various orthopaedic pathologies. The aim of this study is to prospectively assess the relationship between psychological factors and magnitude of disability in a sample of orthopaedic trauma patients in The Netherlands.
Material and methods: One hundred and one adult patients between 1 and 2 months after one or more fractures, tendon or ligament injuries were enrolled. Four eligible patients refused to participate. Thirty-five women and 30 men with an average age of 50 years (range, 22-92 years) completed the follow-up evaluation between 5 and 8 months after their injury and their data was analyzed. The patients completed a measure of disability (the Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment-Netherlands, SMFA-NL), the Dutch Centre for Epidemiologic Study of Depression-scale (CES-D), the Dutch Impact of Event Scale (SVL), and the Dutch Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) at the time of enrollment and again 5-8 months after injury.
Results: There were moderate correlations between symptoms of depression (CES-D, r=0.48, p<0.001) and symptoms of PTSD (SVL, r=0.35, p=0.004) at enrollment and magnitude of disability 5-8 months after trauma. Catastrophic thinking (PCS) at enrollment and magnitude of disability 5-8 months after trauma showed a small correlation (PCS, r=0.26, p=0.034). The Pain Catastrophizing Scale (Beta=0.29; p=0.049), surgery (Beta=0.26; p=0.034), additional surgery (Beta=0.26; p=0.019) and other pain conditions (Beta=0.31; p=0.009) were the significant predictors in the final model (adjusted R-squared=0.35; p<0.001) for greater disability 5-8 months after trauma.
Discussion and conclusions: In The Netherlands, symptoms of depression measured 1-2 months after musculoskeletal trauma correlate with disability 5-8 months after this trauma. The psychological aspects of recovery from musculoskeletal injury merit greater attention.
Level of evidence: Level II, Prognostic study.
Keywords: Depression; Injury; Orthopaedic trauma; PTSD; Psychosocial.
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