Perceived injustice and pain intensity in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain: crosssectional study

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:To date, there is no information on the perception of injustice in patients with musculoskeletal pain in Brazil. The present study evaluated the perception of injustice in individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain and its association with pain intensity. METHODS: Information regarding the participants' identification and experience of injustice was gathered using the Injustice Experience Questionnaire. Pain intensity data was collected through the numerical pain rating scale. The descriptive data analysis was performed. Pearson's correlation test was used to verify the association between pain intensity and perceived injustice. The level of significance adopted was alpha=95%. RESULTS:The study was composed of 110 patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain being 94 women with a mean age of 62.9±14.9 years. The mean perceived injustice was 19.45±11.68 out of a total of 48 points. The mean pain intensity was 6.39±2.48. The correlation between pain intensity and perceived injustice was r=0.23 [CI (95%) = 0.04 to 0.40; p=0.008]. The correlation between blame and unfairness and pain intensity was r=0.16 (p=0.08). For the severity and irreparability domain the correlation was r=0.28 (p=0.003).