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AAPM: Widely Used Questionnaire Spots Depression in Chronic Pain Patients By Bruce Sylvester Special to DG News NEW ORLEANS, LA -- February 25, 2003 -- The SP-36 health questionnaire could be useful to physicians in uncovering and appropriately classifying depression in chronic pain patients, researchers report. Lead researcher and author Thomas Elliott, MD, St. Mary's/Duluth Clinic Health System in Duluth, Minnesota, noted that, "Major depressive disorder and minor depressive disorders are very common among chronic pain patients, resulting in significantly reduced quality of life." This research was presented here February 20th at the 19th Annual Meeting of American Academy of Pain Medicine. The study was designed to determine how well the SF-36 correlates with the diagnosis of depression, and the type of depression, made by a physician using DSM-IV criteria in a population of chronic pain patients. The SF-36 Health Status Survey is one of the most widely used surveys in the world for assessing health status from the patient's point of view, for clinical research and practice. It was designed for self-administration by persons 14 years of age and older, and for administration by a trained interviewer in person or by telephone, and it asks the patient to measure physical function, pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, emotional problems and mental health, and any changes in health compared to a year ago. The investigators evaluated questionnaires from 238 consecutive chronic pain patients (back pain, fibromyalgia, neuropathic pain, arthritic pain, or headache) entering a pain management program. Two thirds of the patients were female, with a mean age of 46 years (range, 19-83 years). According to DSM-IV criteria, 52% of the subjects had major depression, 34% had minor depression, and 14% were not depressed. The investigators found that the mental component of the SF-36 was significantly correlated with the type of depression (p<0.000). "The SF-36 MCS T-score and all subscale scores were highly correlated with DSM-IV depression type in chronic pain patients," the investigators concluded. This test "may be a useful clinical tool to detect and classify depression type and assess quality of life in chronic pain patients." The SF-36 is produced by the Medical Outcomes Trust, Boston, MA, USA, which holds the copyright to the questionnaire. [Study title: Chronic Pain, Depression, and the Quality of Life: Correlations and Predictive Value of the SF-36. Poster 517] E-mail this page to a friend or colleague! To print, use this version