Differences in health related quality of life between men and women with chronic pain: results from a nationwide cross-sectional survey in the general Spanish population

Abstract

Background: Taking into account the differences between sexes/genders in the chronic pain (CP) process and the influence of the biopsychosocial factors in the health-related quality of life (HRQL), this study aims to determine the differences between women and men with CP and the factors associated with their mental and physical HRQL. Methods: A nationwide cross-sectional study was carried out in 7,058 participants representative of the Spanish adult population. Sociodemographic variables, presence and characteristics of CP, daily living limitations, sleep problems, anxiety and depression (HADS), quality of life (SF-12v2), social support (DUKE-UNC-11) were collected. Four linear regression models were generated. Results: 1,825 people had CP with an average 51.52 years old (SD:15.58), 58.7% being women. The variables associated with lower scores on physical component (PCS-12) were older age (women B=-0.196;men B=-0.151), higher pain intensity (women B=-1.557;men B=-1.435), higher depression (women B=-0.404;men B=-0.322), needed sick leave (women B=-3.816;men=-3.439), reported disability (women B=-10.541;men B=-7,544), retired (women B=-2.454;men B=-1.937), unemployed women (B=-3.394), fibromyalgia diagnostic (B=-4.787), men with arthrosis (B=-2.521), neuropathy (B=-3.871) and low back pain (B=-2.199). Men with university studies obtained higher scores on PCS-12 (B = 2.079). The variables associated with mental component (MCS-12) showed that younger people (women B = 0.111;men B = 0.058), higher anxiety (women B=-1.067;men B=-0.101), and depression (women B=-0.817;men B=-1.004), women with herniated disc (B=-5.324), and endometriosis (B=-3.975), scored lower on MCS-12. Women with secondary studies (B = 1.699), men with pain located in neck (B = 3.785), back (B = 3.108), and joints (B = 4.375) and men with higher social support (B = 0.073) obtained higher score on MCS-12. Conclusions: CP affects HRQL among both sexes. However, differences exist depending on the variables. Identifying subjects with these factors is fundamental to preventing their HRQL from worsening.