Depression and pain – phenomenon, frequency and aetiology. A census in a psychiatric practice in Austria

Objectives: It is well documented, that depression and pain syndromes frequently occur together. It is also been suggested, that psychiatrists underestimate and/or fail to diagnose pain syndromes in their patients. This census study aims at exploring pain-symptomatology in patients with depression in a psychiatric practice and the relevance thereof. Methods: 65 consecutive outpatients of a private practice have been tested with MINI, MADRS, VAS-pain, SDS, subjective attribution of pain; status of psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatment. Results: Our sample consisted of 23 male and 42 female patients; mean 45years; at time of investigation 77% of the subjects attended regular psychotherapy, 77% were under antidepressiv medication, 24,6% under benzodiazepines, 6,1% under antipsychotics and 4,6% under analgetics. According to the MINI-Interview 35,3% of patients suffered from Major Depressive Disorder, 43% from Major Depressive Disorder, past, 16,9% from Dystimia, 18,4% from Panic Disorder, 21,5% from Agoraphobia, 38,4% from Social Phobia, 10,7% OCD, 6,1% from PTSD, 32,3% from GAD. The mean score on the VAS-pain (0–10) was 4,87. 79.4% of the patients scored “mild to intense pain in the last 4 weeks period“ on the pain-scale. The correlation between MADRS-Score and the SDS-Score was R2=0,36. Conclusions: The rate and intensity of pain is high in outpatients with depressive symptoms. The use of dual-action-SNRS with analgetic effects is recommended.

This study was supported by Eli Lilly GmbH