Background & Aims

Chronic pain continues to pose a considerable challenge to patients’ and individuals’ well-being, leading to a decrease in quality of life. A chronic pain module included in the 2019 National Health Interview Survey revealed that 50.2 million adults (20.5%) reported they experienced pain daily or most of the time. The objective of the study was to assess the impacts of chronic pain on the quality of life of patients of Cape Coast Teaching Hospital.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey design was employed in this study at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH), a 400-bed capacity referral hospital in the Central Region of Ghana. The data was obtained from 162 pain patients through two-stage quota sampling from the Oncology, Diabetic, Orthopedic, and Neuropathic clinics of the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital. The McGill pain questionnaire is a tool used to quantify the experience of pain

Results

On average, patients pointed to two areas of their body affected with pain. The pains reported were mostly around the lower limbs (27.7%), the pelvic region (17.0%), and the upper shoulder (17.0%). Forty percent of the patients reported that their pain had persisted for a minimum of three months while 39.4% indicated theirs had lasted over a year. Patients rated their pain as mild (37%), discomforting (29%) and depressing (20.4%) in that order. Irrespective of the patients’ clinics, chronic pain was noted to have moderate adverse effects on their physical, psychological, social, and environmental quality of life.

Conclusions

Based on the findings, it isconcluded that chronic pain is a common health condition encountered by patients who visit the Oncology, Diabetic, Orthopedic, and Neurologic clinics of the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital. Patients were at different stages of their chronic pain experience. Chronic pain had been detrimental to the quality of life for most patients of the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital.

References

Driscoll, M. A., Edwards, R. R., Becker, W. C., Kaptchuk, T. J., & Kerns, R. D. (2021). Psychological interventions for the treatment of chronic pain in adults. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 22(2), 52-95.

Haydam, N. E., & Steenkamp, P. (2021). The Social Sciences Research Methodology Framework and its Application during COVID-19. Reshaping Sustainable Development Goals Implementation in the World; Twum-Darko, M., Ed, 59-72

Yong, R. J., Mullins, P. M., & Bhattacharyya, N. (2022). Prevalence of chronic pain among adults in the United States. Pain, 163(2), e328-e332.

Blyth, F. M., March, L. M., Brnabic, A. J., & Cousins, M. J. (2004). Chronic pain and frequent use of health care. Pain, 111(1-2), 51-58.

Presenting Author

Ernest Obese

Poster Authors

Ernest Obese

PhD Pharmacology

University of Cape Coast

Lead Author

Elvis Ofori Ameyaw

University of Cape Coast

Lead Author

Oluwayemisi Ekor

University of Cape Coast

Lead Author

Douglas Arthur

University of Cape Coast

Lead Author

Constance Caroline Cobbold

Lead Author

Kofi Nyanor Amoh

University of Cape Coast

Lead Author

Topics

  • Models: Chronic Pain - Neuropathic