Determining the amount of knee pain and disability in people with knee OA is difficult, as there are numerous factors to take in to account such as the amount of damage to the knee, an individual's pain processing mechanisms, psychosocial factors, culture, etc. Something interesting, is that the amount of pain experienced does not always equal more structural damage on radiological findings such as an X-ray. This led to more research in other areas that determine pain and disability and it has been found that psychological (mood, thoughts, behavior) factors play an important role in determining pain and disability.

In this prospective study done by Helminen EE et al (2016) the following factors seemed to play a significant role in the amount of pain and disability experienced by knee OA patients:

• Mood: When mood appeared normal at onset of study, it could predict a remarkably better result for all measures of pain and disability after 1-year
• Pain self-efficacy (how we deal with pain) and satisfaction with lived predicted better level of function
• Pain catastrophizing (constantly thinking about pain, negative thoughts related to the pain experience) led to higher levels of pain.
• Fear of movement predicted poor levels of functioning

This study concluded that psychological factors played a significant role in the development of disability and that patients that had more psychosocial stressors had worse pain in the longer term.

We should never underestimate the power and the influence our emotions, mood and coping strategies on our pain experience and our level of function. Managing pain should include all aspects of a person, not just the amount of structural damage as shown on radiological findings.

You can read the article here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4976658/?fbclid=IwAR06BW9_3pQpv7M9ox-RWeoLO_SWilAI6VvLAKWmViBdCcjE1WHZwPuSliI

Reference: Helminen EE, Sinikallio SH, Valjakka AL, Väisänen-Rouvali RH, Arokoski JP. Determinants of pain and functioning in knee osteoarthritis: a one-year prospective study. Clin Rehabil. 2016;30(9):890–900. doi:10.1177/0269215515619660

Image: Google images

Posted by: Ilse van Vuuren