Abstract

Background. Spinal pain is one of the most freąuent musculoskeletal complaints, and is considered a major ąuantitative, social and therapeutic problem. Despite the many studies on the subject conducted so far, the aetiology of spinał pain seems very diverse and treatment is often ineffective. The present paper aims to analyse the relationship between chronic cervical spine pain and selected psychological factors such as depression and the most freauently experienced emotions of joy, satisfaction, tenderness, anxiety fear, apprehension, anger, indignation, irritation, feeling ofguilt, feeling of shame, grief, humiliation, or sadness. Material and methods. We analysed data provided by 45 subjects, who were enrolled on account of chronic cervical spine pain of more than 3 months duration. The study used a survey the Beck Depression lnventory and an Emotion Questionnaire. Results and Conclusions. The average reported duration ofthe pain was 13.2 years. Average self-rated pain intensity was 5.9 on a 10-point scalę and the average duration of treatment before entering the study was 11.6 years. The results indicate that there is a relationship between the occurrence of chronic cervical spine pain and depression, as well as the most freauently experienced emotions, such as fear, anxiety apprehension, and humiliation.

Key words:

chronic cervical spine pain syndrome, depression, emotional factors