Hypervigilance to pain may predict the transition from subacute to chronic back pain: a longitudinal observational study

Review written by Dr Sandy Hilton info

Key Points

  1. Pain hypervigilance was the strongest predictor of both pain severity and pain-related interference regardless of the initial pain levels.
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Individuals suffering with chronic low back pain are anticipated to rise to 843 million worldwide by 2050, up from 619 million in 2020 (1). It is estimated that 26-32% of individuals with acute low back pain transition to chronic pain and long-term disability (2). Screening with questionnaires is a cost-effective option to identify those at risk for transitioning from acute to chronic low back pain (3).

The subacute stage of back pain is 7-12 weeks and is a transitional stage from acute to chronic pain. The authors of this longitudinal observational study hypothesized that including additional psychological and social risk factors not already captured by the Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Questionnaire (OMPQ) would improve the ability to predict who will transition from subacute to chronic low back pain.

Individuals suffering with chronic low back pain is anticipated to rise to 843 million worldwide by 2050, up from 619 million in 2020.
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Inclusion of the Pain Vigilance Awareness Questionnaire along with the Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Questionnaire could be beneficial to identifying who are more at risk for transitioning to chronic pain.

METHODS

  • The data used for this study was collected from an ongoing observational longitudinal study being done by the Heidelberg Pain Consortium. Individuals included here were followed with a six-month follow-up.
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