Introduction:

The association between depressive symptoms and pain is evidenced, so they must be treated together.

Objective:

To determine the relationship between depressive symptoms and chronic back pain in patients who start rehabilitation.

Material and methods:

An observational, prospective and cross-sectional study was conducted in 118 patients with chronic back pain who started rehabilitation. The pain was measured using the Visual Analog Scale and depressive symptoms were measured with the Beck Depression Inventory-II.

Results:

The patients presented an average pain of 6,69 ± 1,98, with moderate levels of intensity (52,5%) and lumbar location (55,1 %); the longest time duration ranged from 1 to 3 years (54,2 %). Depressive symptoms had an average score of 19,13 ± 10,62; they were analyzed in two groups: minimum level of symptoms (0-13 points) and risk (14-63 points) including mild, moderate and severe levels (66,9 %). The relationship between depressive symptoms and chronic back pain was significant; that is, the higher the level of pain, the greater the presence of symptoms. In the case of severe level of pain, the mild/moderate/severe symptoms were 80,9 % (p = 0,03); 73,3% for females (p = 0,02); concerning marital status, 93,8 % were separated/widowed (p = 0,04) and 100% had no levels of education (p = 0,03).

Conclusions:

Depressive symptoms are related to chronic back pain; the higher the level of pain, the greater the presence of depressive symptoms. It is also associated with the female sex, separated or widowed persons and persons without any education.

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