Yona Tomer, Weisman Asaf, Gottlieb Uri, Masharawi Youssef
The Israeli Physiotherapy Society, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Phys Ther. 2022 Mar 1;102(3). doi: 10.1093/ptj/pzab278.
Depressive symptoms and musculoskeletal (MSK) pain are 2 of the most common health conditions. Their relationship, however, remains unclear. As depressive symptoms in physical therapists have not been well assessed, the purpose of this work was to assess self-reported depressive symptoms and MSK pain prevalence-and their possible association-in physical therapists and physical therapist students.
An online cross-sectional survey was used to gather data from 707 physical therapists and 116 physical therapist students from Israel. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 was used to assess depressive symptoms, and the Extended Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire was used to evaluate the prevalence and characteristics of MSK pain.
Overall, 108 participants (13.1%) scored in the moderate to severe depressive symptoms category (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score >10), and 261 participants (31.7%) scored in the mild depressive symptoms category. In total, 84 physical therapists (11.9%) and 24 physical therapist students (20.7%) reported moderate to severe depressive symptoms during the last 2 weeks. Neck and back pain had the highest point prevalence (26.7%-35.3%) and lifetime prevalence (75.9%-78.5%), respectively. Mild depressive symptoms were associated with current pain (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.58) and smoking (adjusted OR = 1.79-1.84). Current pain was also associated with severe depressive symptoms (adjusted OR = 2.76-3.07). Physical therapists with higher salaries were less likely to report severe depressive symptoms (adjusted OR = 0.11-0.36).
The prevalence estimates generated from this study sample imply that 11.9% of physical therapists and 20.7% of physical therapist students in Israel experienced moderate to severe depressive symptoms. Neck and back pain had the highest point and lifetime prevalence.
The prevalence of self-reported depressive symptoms in this sample places physical therapists and physical therapist students alongside physicians, nurses, and medical profession students who have been previously reported to have elevated depressive symptoms. Future studies should further explore the nature of the association between pain and depressive symptoms in these populations.
抑郁症状和肌肉骨骼（MSK）疼痛是两种最常见的健康问题。然而，它们之间的关系仍不明确。由于物理治疗师的抑郁症状尚未得到充分评估，本研究的目的是评估物理治疗师和物理治疗专业学生自我报告的抑郁症状及MSK疼痛患病率，以及它们之间可能存在的关联。
采用在线横断面调查，收集了来自以色列的707名物理治疗师和116名物理治疗专业学生的数据。使用患者健康问卷-9评估抑郁症状，使用扩展北欧肌肉骨骼问卷评估MSK疼痛的患病率及特征。
总体而言，108名参与者（13.1%）的抑郁症状评分为中度至重度（患者健康问卷-9得分>10），261名参与者（31.7%）的抑郁症状评分为轻度。在过去两周内，共有84名物理治疗师（11.9%）和24名物理治疗专业学生（20.7%）报告有中度至重度抑郁症状。颈部和背部疼痛的时点患病率（26.7%-35.3%）和终生患病率（75.9%-78.5%）最高。轻度抑郁症状与当前疼痛（调整优势比[OR]=1.58）和吸烟（调整OR=1.79-1.84）相关。当前疼痛也与重度抑郁症状相关（调整OR=2.76-3.07）。薪资较高的物理治疗师报告重度抑郁症状的可能性较小（调整OR=0.11-0.36）。
本研究样本得出的患病率估计表明，以色列11.9%的物理治疗师和20.7%的物理治疗专业学生经历过中度至重度抑郁症状。颈部和背部疼痛的时点患病率和终生患病率最高。
该样本中自我报告的抑郁症状患病率表明，物理治疗师和物理治疗专业学生与之前报告的抑郁症状发生率较高的医生、护士及医学专业学生处于同一水平。未来的研究应进一步探讨这些人群中疼痛与抑郁症状之间关联的本质。
