Relationship between disability, pain intensity and quality of life in patients with chronic neck pain

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted to determine the relationship between disability, pain intensity and quality of life in patients with chronic neck pain. Methodology. One hundred patients suffering from chronic neck pain for at least six months (71 female-29 male) were evaluated in this study. A Visual Analog Scale was used to describe pain intensity. The Neck Disability Index (NDI) was used to evaluate disability level. To determine the quality of life of the subjects, the SF-36 survey was used. Results. The mean age of the participants was 44.13±12.22 years. Mean of pain duration was 40.66±41.86 month. Mean pain intensity at rest 4.86±2.92, intensity of pain during activity 6.74±2.75, intensity of night pain 5.56±3.45.Mean NDI score was 42.20±18.29. The results of this study showed that the NDI scores were highly correlated with scores of the subscales of SF-36 (p<0.01). The NDI scores also showed a positive correlation with night pain, pain at rest, and pain during activity (p<0.01).However, NDI scores were not correlated with pain duration. Conclusion. The results of this study indicate that increased disability level in patients with chronic neck pain leads to decreased quality of life.