Chronic pain-related factors and the quality of life of fracture victims 27 months after the Sichuan earthquake / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate factors related to chronic pain in those injured with fractures 27 months after the Sichuan earthquake.The correlation between intensity of pain and quality of life was also analyzed.Methods A total of 705 victims were investigated on site.Their residual pain was categorized using a visual analogue scale (VAS) score as no pain,mild pain,moderate pain or severe pain.The pain-related biological,psychological and social factors were analyzed using the Barthel Index ( BI ),Life Satisfaction Questionaire-11 ( LiSat-11 )and the SF-36 health questionnaire. Rehabilitation and surgical interventions,employment,income and emotional status were also investigated. Results The incidence of chronic pain was 88.5％ in this population,of which mild pain and moderate pain were 35.7％ and 33.3％,respectively.The percentage of the victims who had received fracture surgery was 65.8％ ; the percentage of those who had recovered was 96.9％.BI scores for the victims without pain,with mild,moderate and severe pain were 92.7 + 10.2,92.8 + 8.4,91.2 ± 9.9 and 90.4 + 14.7,respectively ; the differences between these groups were all statistically insignificant.The influence of pain intensity on life satisfaction showed a significant linear trend.The percentages of the victims with restricted occupational ability in the four groups were 38.3％,61.5％,75.7％ and 62.8％ respectively.The median of personal annual income were ￥ 3550,￥ 2500,￥ 2000 and ￥ 2500.The VAS scores were significantly related to abnormal emotions,life satisfaction,employment and annual income.The subjects with different levels of residual pain also showed significant differences in the physical functioning,role-physical,bodily pain,general health,vitality,social functioning,role-emotional and mental health sub-scales of the SF-36.The total SF-36 scores were highest among victims without pain (70.6 + 17.5) and declined significantly in those with mild (61.3 + 14.3 ),moderate (52.7 + 14.3 ) and severe pain (52.3 + 14.7 ).This negative correlation between pain intensity and SF-36 total score was statistically significant. Conclusions Chronic pain remains common among fracture victims 27 months after the earthquake.Its intensity is correlated with psychological and social factors as well as quality of life.