Combined' Neck/Back Pain and Psychological Distress/Morbidity Among the Saudi Population: A Cross-Sectional Study

Sameer Al-Ghamdi; Mamdouh M Shubair; Khadijah Angawi; Jamaan Al-Zahrani; Abdulrahman Ali M Khormi; Reem Falah Alshammari; Nawaf Safaq Alshammari; Raed Aldahash; Bander Yahya Otayf; Hayat Saleh Al-Zahrani; Manayir Sultan Aleshaiwi; Khaled K Aldossari

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.870600

Combined' Neck/Back Pain and Psychological Distress/Morbidity Among the Saudi Population: A Cross-Sectional Study

Front Psychol. 2022 Apr 19:13:870600. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.870600. eCollection 2022.

Affiliations

¹ Family and Community Medicine Department, College of Medicine, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia.
² School of Health Sciences, University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), Prince George, BC, Canada.
³ Department of Health Services and Hospital Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administration, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Family and Community Medicine Department, University of Hail (UOH), Hail, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC), Department of Medicine, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Science, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ College of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Family Medicine and Medical Education, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁰ Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Background: Psychological distress/morbidity is amongst the primary reason for the cause of pain at multiple sites, its progression, and recovery. Though still not very clear if physical pain in the neck or the back may predict psychological morbidities or not. Thus, we investigated the association between combined neck or back pain and psychological distress/morbidity.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia, including 1,003 individuals. The questionnaire comprised of General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) and some questions about neck and back pain. Data analysis was done using statistical software SPSS version 26.0.

Results: The results of the multivariate analysis revealed a significant positive association between neck/back pain status and total GHQ score (unstandardized Beta = 2.442, P ≤ 0.0001). Having neck/back pain had almost a 2.5 times greater risk of psychological distress/morbidity. Further, females were more likely to have a higher risk of psychological distress/morbidity (unstandardized Beta = 1.334, P = 0.007) than males while adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.

Conclusion: The combination of neck and back pain was significantly associated with the Saudi population's psychological problems. Therefore, the Saudi government needs to devise high-risk strategies and allocate adequate resources to the cause so that at-risk people can be shielded from the adverse complications arising from this condition in the long run.

Keywords: Saudi Arabia; back pain; cross-section study; neck pain; psychological distress.