Chronic Widespread Pain, Mental Health, and Physical Role Function in OEF/OIF Veterans

ABSTRACT

Objective. Describe the associations among pain, mental health concerns, and function in veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF).

Design. Retrospective review of self-reported, standardized clinical intake surveys.

Setting. A multidisciplinary deployment health clinic at a Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center.

Patients. The first 429 veterans of OEF/OIF presenting for clinical evaluation at a deployment health clinic.

Outcome Measures. Function, measured with the Role Physical (RP) scale of the Veterans RAND (VR)-36 survey, was compared for veterans with and without chronic widespread pain (CWP).

Results. After controlling for age, sex, and positive screens for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the presence of CWP had a significant, clinically relevant, and independent effect on VR-36 RP (−6.2 points, ΔR² = 0.052, P < 0.001). Mean VR-36 RP normed score was 43.3 (standard deviation 11.9). CWP was common (29%), as were positive mental health screens (PTSD 53%, depression 60%, alcohol misuse 63%).

Conclusions. In this sample of OEF/OIF veterans, the majority of whom reported good or better general health, CWP was common and related to poorer physical role function, independent of comorbid mental health concerns.

Veterans, Pain, Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder