Journal article
Pain Severity Ratings Among Patients with Comorbid Chronic Pain and PTSD: A Retrospective Cohort Study
International journal of medical students, v 13(2), pp 169-173
19 Jun 2025
Abstract
Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that may occur after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. PTSD is characterized by physiological symptoms such as sleep disturbances and hyperarousal. One understudied symptom in PTSD patients is chronic pain (CP). Acute pain can lead to CP when it persists beyond adaptation. The interconnection between stress and pain has been well-established in fields of neuroscience and psychology, though we still do not fully understand the nature of this clinical relationship. Methods: In the current retrospective cohort study, we use a sample of patients with PTSD and CP through a database of numerous healthcare organizations called TriNetX. We compare the reported pain severity rating between three groups: those with PTSD and no CP, those with CP and no PTSD, and those with comorbid PTSD and CP. The summary data was compared using a one-way analysis of variance with the Welch statistic. Results: The average reported pain severity was significantly different between all three groups (F(2, 21288)=279.80, p < .001). The patients with comorbid PTSD and CP reported the highest average pain severity, followed by patients with only CP and then patients with only PTSD. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate a need to further investigate the complex relationship between PTSD and CP. The higher average pain severity in patients with both disorders suggest that integrated pain management and mental health interventions must be prioritized in this population.
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Details
- Title
- Pain Severity Ratings Among Patients with Comorbid Chronic Pain and PTSD: A Retrospective Cohort Study
- Creators
- Lily CharronEduardo Espiridion
- Publication Details
- International journal of medical students, v 13(2), pp 169-173
- Publisher
- Pitt Open Library Publishing
- Number of pages
- 5
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Psychiatry
- Other Identifier
- 991022061537204721