A new study from a combined research team from the University of Southern California and Duke University suggests that if you have knee pain related to osteoarthritis and you have high to medium expectations that your treatment will work (this is any treatment) you will have better results. In contrast, patients with interpersonal problems associated with pain coping did not benefit much from the treatment.1
There has been a number of studies released recently which sought to make knee pain treatment more successful by examining the patient’s mental health before the treatments.
Much of this research is being conducted to help sought out knee replacement patients who may not benefit from the procedure because of depressive cycles or anxiety disorders. This is suggested in new research from the University of Iowa that says that in patients recommended to knee replacement, both pain intensity and pain-related distress demonstrated significant relationships with anxiety, depression, and catastrophizing. The investigators suggest brief psychological interventions for pre-surgical knee replacement patients to help makes the surgery more successful.2
In a study from the University of Oslo researchers found that 1 in 5 knee replacement patients still had pain when walking. These patients had higher preoperative pain, fatigue, and depression scores.3
In recent research, doctors found that patients with knee osteoarthritis often experience considerable physical disability with worsening symptoms linked to depression. Some of the research seeks to determine the “chicken or the egg,” if depression causes more pain or more pain causes depression. Likely it is cyclical. Each causes the other with worsening effects if not treated.
Studies suggest women with knee osteoarthritis suffer more than men from this depression/pain cycle. Further, in the study cited below, researchers looked at the link relationships that exist between women’s perceived health status and the physical, emotional and perceptual factors knee osteoarthritis/depression may cause. This was suggested in another paper to be released in December 2016 from Canadian doctors at McMaster University.4
Long-term pain is typical in patients we see here in our Cherry Hill, New Jersey office and is a signal that the patient may be suffering from depression. In these patients we provide a nn-surgical treatment plan and after a consultation, address problems of depression.
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1 Broderick JE, Keefe FJ, Schneider S, Junghaenel DU, Bruckenthal P, Schwartz JE, Kaell AT, Caldwell DS, McKee D, Gould E. Cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain is effective, but for whom?
Pain. 2016 May 25.
2. Noiseux NO, Callaghan JJ, Geasland KM, Embree JL, Rakel BA. Relationships among pain intensity, pain-related distress, and psychological distress in pre-surgical total knee arthroplasty patients: a secondary analysis. Psychol Health Med. 2016 May 24:1-12. [Epub ahead of print]
3. Lindberg MF, Miaskowski C, RustøEn T, Rosseland LA, Cooper BA, Lerdal A. Factors that can predict pain with walking, 12 months after total knee arthroplasty. Acta Orthop. 2016 Dec;87(6):600-606.
4. Wood TJ, Thornley P, Petruccelli D, Kabali C, Winemaker M, de Beer J. Preoperative Predictors of Pain Catastrophizing, Anxiety, and Depression in Patients Undergoing Total Joint Arthroplasty. J Arthroplasty. 2016 Dec;31(12):2750-2756. doi: 10.1016/j.arth.2016.05.056.
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