ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of depression and phantom limb pain among amputated patients at the Philippine Orthopedic Center (POC) from April to May 2001, as well as describe the characteristics of such patients. This study also seeks to determine if there is an association between phantom limb pain and depression among the amputated patients at POC. METHODS: This is a cross sectional study where 48 in and out patients from 18-61 years old were interviewed using the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) to evaluate the presence of phantom limb pain and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to evaluate the presence of depression, for the time period between April and May 2001. RESULTS: Eighteen (37.5 percent) patients were noted to be depressed, while only eight (16.7 percent) reported experiencing phantom limb pain. Among the 18 depressed patients, majority (68.8 percent) did not experience any pain but about one third (33.3 percent) admitted to phantom limb pain. Among the 8 who experienced phantom limb pain, 6 (75 percent) were depressed as compared to only 30 percent of those without phantom limb were depressed. Depression was more severe among those who were amputated due to a medical illness (24 percent) and interviewed within a year after their amputation (27.3 percent). CONCLUSION: Depression was more prevalent than phantom limb pain among amputees of the POC. Using the Fisher test for independent variables and Mann-Whitney 2 sample test, an association between phantom limb pain and depression was observed among the amputated patients in this study. Depression may also be more evident within the first year after amputation and more prevalent among those with medical illness.