2nd Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Attikon University Hospital, Athens, Greece.
Swiss Pain Institute, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Pain Physician. 2018 Sep;21(5):E533-E543.
Chronic pain is well known to be influenced by various social factors; however, the impact of financial issues on pain has not been extensively studied.
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the economic crisis on pain and quality of life in Greek patients suffering from chronic pain.
The study employed a prospective, open-label design.
The study setting was the Pain Unit of Attikon University Hospital in Athens, Greece.
The study surveyed 200 randomly selected outpatients with chronic pain during two different time periods (2012 and 2016). Patients completed a structured questionnaire to assess the impact of the economic crisis on multiple aspects of pain and pain management, health care, and quality of life. Personality characteristics and stress were also evaluated using the DASS-42 and the LOT-R questionnaires.
Most patients in both periods believed that the economic crisis led to a worsening of their symptoms (75%) and quality of life (97%). Most patients (97.5%) also believed that the intensity of their pain would have been improved if their financial status had been better. Their main concerns about the future were "the possibility of not having access to health care facilities and medication" (94.5%), "stress" (43%), and "fear of financial strain" (30.5%). Higher levels of anxiety, stress, and pessimism were associated with higher levels of pain and lower quality of life.
The study is based on a small sample size.
This study identified impacts of the financial crisis on chronic pain and quality of life, pointing to the need for measures to solve this problem.
Pain, global financial crisis, quality of life, quality of health care, psychosocial factors.
慢性疼痛众所周知受到各种社会因素的影响；然而，经济问题对疼痛的影响尚未得到广泛研究。
本研究旨在探讨经济危机对希腊慢性疼痛患者疼痛和生活质量的影响。
本研究采用前瞻性、开放标签设计。
希腊雅典 Attikon 大学医院疼痛科。
本研究在两个不同时期（2012 年和 2016 年）随机选择 200 名慢性疼痛门诊患者进行调查。患者完成了一份结构化问卷，以评估经济危机对疼痛和疼痛管理、医疗保健和生活质量的多个方面的影响。还使用 DASS-42 和 LOT-R 问卷评估了人格特征和压力。
两个时期的大多数患者都认为经济危机导致他们的症状（75%）和生活质量（97%）恶化。大多数患者（97.5%）还认为，如果他们的财务状况更好，他们的疼痛强度会有所改善。他们对未来的主要担忧是“无法获得医疗保健设施和药物的可能性”（94.5%）、“压力”（43%）和“担心经济压力”（30.5%）。较高的焦虑、压力和悲观情绪水平与较高的疼痛水平和较低的生活质量相关。
本研究基于小样本量。
本研究确定了金融危机对慢性疼痛和生活质量的影响，指出需要采取措施解决这个问题。
疼痛、全球金融危机、生活质量、医疗保健质量、社会心理因素。
