Somatosensory Amplification, Health Anxiety andPain Catastrophizing in Individuals with ChronicMusculoskeletal System Pain

Abstract

Objective: The present study aimed to evaluate the somatosensory amplification, pain catastrophizing levels, and health anx iety of the patients with musculoskeletal system pain through comparing them both with control group and with themselves. Materials and Methods: Of all patients who applied to the physical therapy and rehabilitation outpatient clinic with acomplaint of musculoskeletal pain and who met the criteria for inclusion. The patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia syn drome (FMS) and osteoarthritis (OA) based on American College of Rheumatology criteria and the patients diagnosed withcervical disc hernia (CDH) and lumbar disc hernia (LDH) based on anamnesis, physical examination, and imaging methodswere included in the study. All participants were subjected to demographic data form, the pain catastrophizing scale (PCS),somatosensory amplification scale (SSAS), hospital anxiety-depression scale (HADS), and health anxiety inventory (HAI). Results: The patient group had 120 patients (45 – FMS, 27 – OA, 29 – LDH, and 19 – CDH diagnoses) while the controlhad 70 individuals. There were no differences between the study groups for demographic data except for working status andeconomic level. It was determined that there were no differences between the patient and control groups for any subscales ofHADS. For HAI only, the “negative consequences” subscale was lower in the patient group (p=0.012). It was also found thatfor SSAS and PCS, the patient group had higher scores than the controls (p=0.008 and p