Quality of life in patients with chronic pain disorders: Determinnation the role of intensity and duration of pain

Introduction: In spite of many studies conducted on the subject of pain and its effects on quality of life, there is not still any complete information about factors involving pain intensity and duration and how those can influent the patient’s life. The aim of the current study was determining the role of intensity and duration of pain on quality of life in patients with chronic pain. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with participation of the patients referring to the pain centers in Tehran's hospitals in 2012-2013. Patients (n=300) were selected by using multi-stage random sampling technique. For determining pain intensity, a 0–10 numeric rating scale was used and the patients were asked for the duration of pain. The questionnaire of quality of life,designed by the World Health Organization, was used to measure quality of life. Further, Pearson's correlation coefficient and regression tests were used to analyze the data by using SPSS version 19. Results: These findings showed that the pain intensity and duration has significant correlation with the quality of life and its different dimensions (P<0.05). Also, the results of the regression analysis indicated the fact that pain intensity could predict quality of life and its dimensions in patients (P<0.001), with the pain corporal dimensions showing most of the prediction, while the pain duration could not predict quality of life and its dimensions in the patients (P<0.05). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it could be suggested that pain intensity, particularly its corporal dimensions, have more significant role in predicting the patients' quality of life, whose suffering from chronic pain.