Table 7.
Studies examining the relationship between poor mental health and knee pain
| Author (year) | Study design | Assessment of general mental health | Assessment of pain | Results | Conclusion | Quality score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O’Reilly (1998) |
Cross-sectional |
SF-36 Questionnaire – Mental Health Component |
Knee pain on most days for at least a month (in the past year) |
Mental health score (<61): OR: 2.1 95% CI: 1.7-2.6 |
Lower mental health scores were associated with increased odds of knee pain. |
45 |
| Knee pain: Median (IQR): 72(56–84) | ||||||
| No knee pain: Median (IQR): 76(64–88). P < 0.001 | ||||||
| Matsudaira (2011) |
Cross-sectional |
SF36 subscale |
Self reported knee pain in past month or in the past year |
Knee pain and mental health: Not significant (Data not provided) |
There was no association found between knee pain and general mental health. |
82 |
| Harcombe (2010) |
Cross-sectional |
Mental Health Inventory-5 (MHI-5) |
Self-reported knee pain lasting for more than a day in the month |
Knee pain and mental health: OR (95% CI)= 0.96 (0.90 to 1.02); p value=0.194 |
There was no association between self-reported knee pain and mental health. |
73 |
| Standardised Nordic Questionnaires for MSDs and Brief Symptom Inventory diagram showing the area of the body | ||||||
| Davis (1992) | Cross-sectional | Psychological Wellbeing: NHANES General Wellbeing Index | Pain on most days lasting one month in the past year or knee pain on active or passive motion during the examination | Psychological wellbeing (score ≤70 & reference group >94) |
Psychological wellbeing was associated with knee pain among participants with and without radiographic OA. | 45 |
| OA and No OA: OR (95% CI)= 1.4 (1.0 to 2.0) | ||||||
| OA ± Pain: OR (95% CI)= 3.7 (1.8 to 7.6) | ||||||
| Pain ± OA: OR (95% CI)= 3.2 (2.1 to 5.0) |
NHANES , National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey; PFS , Physical Functioning Score; WOMAC , Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index; PCI , Pain Coping Inventory; 4DSQ , Four Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire; CES-D , Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale; QOL , Quality of Life; SF-36 , Short-Form-36 Health Survey; SSS , Social Support Scale; VAS , Visual Analogue Scale; OA , osteoarthritis; K/L scale , Kellgren and Lawrence Atlas of Standard Radiographs of Arthritis; WOMAC , Western Ontario and McMaster University Arthritis Index; MPQ , McGill Pain Questionnaire; AIMS , Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales; ACR , American College of Rheumatology; NA , not available; PFS , Physical Functioning Scale; IRGL , Invloed van Reuma op Gezondheid en Leefwijze (Dutch version of the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale).