Exploring the influence of physical activity levels with pain characteristics, activity patterns and psychological characteristics in people with chronic pain: a cross-sectional study.

Abstract

Question: Is there a difference in pain characteristics, activity patterns and psychological characteristics among low, moderate and high levels of physical activity in people with chronic pain? Design: Cross-sectional study. Participants: 163 participants aged 16 to 78 years with chronic pain of more than 12 weeks. Outcome measures: Physical activity levels were measured by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF), while pain characteristics were measured as pain severity and pain interference using the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form (BPI-SF). Activity patterns of avoidance, overdoing and pacing were measured by the Patterns of Activity Measure-Pain (POAM-P) and Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK). Psychological characteristics were measured as depression, anxiety and stress using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS42). Demographic data was also collected in the administered questionnaire. Results: Post-hoc analysis indicated significant differences (p < .017) between low and high physical activity level in POAM-P Avoidance, BPI Pain Interference, BPI Pain Severity, TSK and DASS42 Depression scores. A significant difference (p < .017) between low and moderate physical activity level was found in POAM-P Avoidance, BPI Pain Interference and TSK scores. A significant difference (p < .017) between moderate and high physical activity level was also found in POAM-P Avoidance scores. Conclusion: Physical activity levels can influence pain characteristics, avoidance activity patterns and depression in people with chronic pain. Future studies may wish to explore generalisability of findings to provide recommendations for health promotion, incorporate objective measurements of physical activity and to establish cause and effect between physical activity levels, pain characteristics, avoidance activity patterns and depression.