Author ORCID Identifier

Anitha Saravanan: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4585-5577

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Pain Management Nursing

Abstract

Purpose

Fatigue is prevalent, problematic, and co-occurs in chronic low back pain. When left untreated, fatigue can increase depressive mood, and intensify pain burden and disability in patients with chronic low back pain. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of fatigue to depressive mood, pain severity, and pain interference in patients with chronic low back pain.

Design and Methods

A cross-sectional design was used to enroll and evaluate adults (n = 67) with chronic low back pain (>6 months) during their visit to an outpatient pain clinic. Participants completed psychometric instruments for fatigue, depressive mood, pain severity, and pain interference.

Results

Participants were primarily women (73%), White (59%), with a median age of 59 years (range 22-70 years). Multiple regression models showed significant positive associations between fatigue and depressive mood (SD: 0.025 p = 0.017) with a coefficient of 0.069; fatigue and pain interference (SD: 0.123 p = 0.010) with a coefficient of 0.652; fatigue and pain severity (SD: 0.125 p-value <0.05) with a coefficient of 0.359. After adjusting for demographic factors (age, sex, and race/ethnicity) the associations remained significant.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that fatigue is associated with greater depressive mood, pain severity, and pain interference in adults with chronic low back pain.

Clinical Implications

Assessing the extent of fatigue and depressive mood as part of pain management may benefit patients with chronic low back, thereby reducing symptom burden.

First Page

225

Last Page

230

DOI

10.1016/j.pmn.2024.02.003

Publication Date

6-2024

Comments

© 2024. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Elsevier in Pain Management Nursing in June 2024, available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmn.2024.02.003.

Original Citation

Saravanan A, Bajaj P, Matthews HL, Tell D, Starkweather A, Janusek L. Fatigue and Depressive Mood in Chronic Low Back Pain. Pain Manag Nurs. 2024 Jun;25(3):225-230. doi: 10.1016/j.pmn.2024.02.003.

Department

School of Nursing

Available for download on Tuesday, July 01, 2025

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