How Common Are Depression and Anxiety in Patients with Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain has a bidirectional association with depression and anxiety: Pain can lead to psychological distress, and patients with mood symptoms are more likely to develop chronic pain. To quantify how often depression and anxiety are present in adults with chronic pain conditions, researchers pooled data from 376 studies (from 50 countries) that reported prevalence of depression or anxiety using validated assessments.

Among the 350,000 patients included in the meta-analysis, symptoms of depression were present in 39%, and symptoms of anxiety were present in 40%. These prevalences were considerably higher than in control participants (14% and 16%, respectively). Younger patients, women, and people with fibromyalgia and other pain condition…