COVID-19 psychological factors associated with pain status, pain intensity, and pain-related interference

Abstract

The 2019 novel SARS-CoV2 disease causing COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the world, and those with pain conditions may be at heightened risk for these negative consequences. Given COVID-19 limitations, including social distancing and stay-at-home orders, pain is likely largely going untreated, leading to greater pain and associated consequences. Mental health symptoms, which have been found to be elevated due to COVID-19, may contribute to elevated pain experience, but little work has examined how COVID-19-specific mental health factors may be associated with pain. Therefore, the current study examined (1) how COVID-19specific psychological factors and general mental health symptoms differ between those with pain and without, and (2) among those with pain, which psychological factors were most strongly associated with pain experience. Results from a national (U.S. based) online sample of 174 adults (42.5% female, M age = 37.80 years, SD = 11.30, 88 with pain) collected between April and May 2020 indicated that, compared to those individuals reporting no pain, those with pain reported significantly higher values on all variables. Additionally, COVID-19 fear and sleep problems were associated with pain intensity, and for pain-related interference, fear, sleep problems, and depression were significantly associated. These results highlight the potential importance of COVID-19-specific psychological factors in pain experience.

Pain Status and Its Association with Physical Activity, Psychological Stress, and Telework among Japanese Workers with Pain during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The common types of psychological stress included a fear of contracting COVID-19, changes in lifestyles, financial problems, and problems with one’s own health. Rogers et al indicated that, compared to individuals without pain, those with pain reported significantly higher levels of psychological problems while COVID-19 fear and sleep problems were associated with pain intensity [ 31 ]. Psychological stress could have led to anxiety or depressive conditions, which may have been involved in pain augmentation.…”

Decision-making framework for identifying regions vulnerable to transmission of COVID-19 pandemic

“… Ashraf, 2020 , Burch, 2020 , Barua, 2020 , Chang et al, 2007 , COVID-19 Dashboard: John Hopkins , COVID-19 Dashboard , Dayanandan and Kalimuthu, 2018 , Duffey and Zio, 2020 , Forman and Peniwati, 1998 , Guha et al, 2020 , Ilesanmi and Alele, 2016 , Kannan et al, 2009 , Khan et al, 2020 , Kraemer et al, 2020 , Liu et al, 2019 , Moriarty, 2020 , Mufsin and Muhsin, 2020 , Nussbaumer-Streit et al, 2020 , O'Reilly et al, 2020 , Piguillem and Shi, 2020 , Qiu et al, 2020 , Rogers et al, 2021 , Rong et al, 2020 , Rothan and Byrareddy, 2020 , Sangiorgio and Parisi, 2020 , Shen et al, 2013 , Singh and Benyoucef, 2011 , Singhal, 2020 , Wang et al, 2020a , Wang et al, 2020b , Yashoda, 2020 .…”

Introversion, Extraversion, and Worsening of Chronic Pain Impact during Social Isolation: A Mediation Analysis

“…Similarly, sleep disturbance is more frequent among individuals with chronic pain (Finan et al, 2013;Smith & Haythornthwaite, 2004), compared to both healthy controls (Theadom et al, 2007) and the general population (Okifuji & Hare, 2011;Sivertsen et al, 2009), with poorer sleep associated with greater pain (Finan et al, 2013). Both depression and sleep disturbance have been associated with an increase in pain in chronic pain populations (Aloush et al, 2021;Rogers et al, 2021).…”