Chronic pain is acknowledged as a serious complaint of spinal cord injured patients that interfers with daily activities.
The purpose of this study was to gather the general information about pain in spinal cord injured patients and the significant factors affecting of pain severity.
The subjects of this study were one hundred and one patients who were admitted to Ajou University Hospital, Buchoen Rehabilitation Center, Sam Yuk Rehabilitation Center, registered with other social agencies. The mean age of the patients was 37.1±11.5 years and mean duration after injury was 46.95±33.36 months. Fall as cause of injury, doing nothing as method of pain relief, lower thoracic level as level of spinal cord injury, Frankel type A as severity of spinal cord injury, and central pain as classification of spinal cord pain were the most common findings. Most significant predictors affecting the pain severity were personal satisfaction and education.
According to the above results, psychosocial variables are important to understanding pain in spinal cord injured patients, and treatment should have a multidimensional approach.
