PRE-INJURY EMOTIONAL TRAUMA AND CHRONIC BACK PAIN - AN UNEXPECTED FINDING

Study Design. A retrospective study investigated pre-injury emotional trauma in out-of-work, blue collar patients with chronic back pain (N = 27) who participated in a 30-hour workshop in which a wide range cog nitive skills was taught to help patients with rehabilitation and retu rn them to work. Objectives. This study identified categories of pre-i njury emotional trauma, calculated summary statistics, and performed c ategory comparisons. Methods. The categories of abandonment, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and sexual abuse emerged from the date. Freque ncies and percentages in each category were calculated. Chi-square tes ts compared the differences in emotional trauma and gender. Results. S tatistically more patients reported abandonment and emotional abuse th an physical and sexual abuse. There were no differences in trauma rate s by gender. The results of the study revealed a high rate of pre-inju ry emotional trauma in patients with chronic back pain. Conclusion. In cluding pre-injury emotional trauma in psychologic evaluations of pati ents with chronic back pain and high psychologic test scores is recomm ended.