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History of abuse and its relationship to pain experience and depression in women with chronic pelvic pain
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

History of abuse and its relationship to pain experience and depression in women with chronic pelvic pain

Sawsan As-Sanie, Lauren A Clevenger, Michael E Geisser, David A Williams and Randy S Roth
American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, Vol.210(4), pp.317.e1-317.e8
04/2014
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2013.12.048
PMCID: PMC4086742
PMID: 24412745
url
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/4086742View
Open Access

Abstract

We sought to determine the relationship among a history of physical or sexual abuse, pain experience, and depressive symptoms among women with chronic pelvic pain (CPP). This was a cross-sectional study of women who presented to a tertiary referral center for evaluation of CPP (N = 273). All participants completed standardized questionnaires to assess a history of physical or sexual abuse, pain severity, pain disability, and depressive symptoms. Subjects were grouped by abuse category and compared to CPP participants without history of abuse. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to determine the association between adolescent or adult and childhood physical or sexual abuse with pain intensity, pain-related disability, and depressive symptoms. Logistic regression analyses indicated that, after controlling for age and education, none of the abuse categories was associated with pain severity. However, adolescent or adult sexual abuse predicted greater pain-related disability (odds ratio, 2.39; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-5.40), while both adolescent or adult physical and sexual abuse were associated with higher levels of depression (both P < .05). Level of education was significantly associated with pain intensity, pain disability, and depression. For our sample of women with CPP, a history of abuse during childhood or adulthood was not associated with differences in pain intensity, but adolescent or adult sexual abuse was associated with greater pain-related disability. A history of physical abuse or sexual abuse appears to hold a stronger relationship with current depressive symptoms than pain experience for women with CPP. Educational achievement holds a robust relationship with pain morbidity and depression for this population.
 Adolescent Adult Chronic Pain - epidemiology Cross-Sectional Studies Depression - epidemiology Domestic Violence - statistics & numerical data Educational Status Female Humans Logistic Models Pain Measurement Pelvic Pain - epidemiology Severity of Illness Index Sex Offenses - statistics & numerical data Surveys and Questionnaires

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