Comparison of the frequency of psychiatric disorders among patients with chronic low back pain and control group.

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common complaints of patients referred to the clinics. Studies indicated that psychosocial factors have great impact on the patients' complaints and disability. The aim of this study was to evaluate a broad range of psychiatric disorders in patients with chronic LBP (CLBP) and compare them with those of the control group.

Patients And Methods: We applied Symptom Checklist 90-R to compare 50 CLBP patients in the case group with 100 participants without it in the control group. The questionnaire measured somatization, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety, phobic anxiety, hostility, interpersonal sensitivity, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism.

Results: Average "global severity index" was 1.10 in the case and 0.5 in the control group. Average "positive symptom total" was 45.26 in the case and 27.41 in the control group. Average "positive symptom distress index" was 2.50 in the case and 1.50 in the control group. Average scores for all test dimensions were significantly different between the two groups (P = 0.00).

Conclusions: All dimensions were significantly more common in CLBP patients. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment of these disorders may improve the outcome of CLBP.