SHBC1545

P.SATGHARE¹, ES¹, TWL¹, ES¹, BYC¹, SV¹, CSA¹, MS¹, AH¹

Institute of Mental Health¹

Chronic pain is a commonly reported symptom among patients seeking treatment at medical and psychiatric clinics. The current study aimed to determine the prevalence, severity (mild, moderate, severe), and associations of chronic pain amongst psychiatric outpatients in Singapore.

Participants were asked to self-report a series of questionnaires on sociodemographic information, Brief Pain Inventory – Short Form (BPI-sf), Body Mass Index (BMI), Beck’s Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), Beck’s Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Chronic Medical Condition Checklist. MANOVA test was used to establish Cut points (CPs) for classifying the severity of pain. Socio-demographic and clinical correlates of chronic pain were determined using multinomial logistic regression analysis.

Out of 290 participants recruited, 38.5% of the sample reported mild, 22.9% had moderate, and 11.8% had severe levels of pain. Participants with severe pain were more likely to be associated with older age (p<0.006), obesity (p<0.030), and less likely to be married (p< 0.025). Moderate (p<0.002) and severe pain (p<0.000) showed significant association with higher anxiety (BAI) scores. Mild pain was significantly associated with older age (p<0.021) and higher depression (BDI-II) scores (p<0.067) when compared to having no pain.

Overall, 73.2 % of participants surveyed reported mild to severe pain, suggesting pain may be highly common in psychiatric outpatients. These findings suggest that screening for pain would be beneficial for timely management of pain conditions among psychiatric population.