Correlation of Severity of Neuropathic Pain in Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury Patients with Sociodemographic and Clinical Characteristics Including Depression and Quality of Life: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract Objectives: To find out the correlation of severity of neuropathic pain (NP) following traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) with sociodemographic, clinical parameters, severity of depression and quality of life (QOL). Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 77 SCI patients treated at our tertiary care hospital. NP was diagnosed with DN4 questionnaire. Clinical evaluation was done according to the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) impairment scale. The visual analogue scale was used to measure the severity of NP. Hamilton Depression Rating Scale was used for evaluating severity of depression, and QOL was assessed by 36-Item Short Form Health Survey. Results: The mean age was 35.04 ± 13 years. Forty-six patients (59.7%) had a complete injury (ASIA grade A), 30 (39%) patients had an incomplete kind of injury (ASIA grade B–D) and 1 (1.3%) patient had no deficits (ASIA grade E). NP was present in 74.0% of screened patients. Most NP patients reported mild-to-moderate (89.6%) pain intensity with sudden onset (55.8%). Only a small group (10.4%) reported severe pain. Conclusion: NP is common consequence of traumatic SCI. Patient as well as injury-related characteristics affect its severity. Severity of depression has significant correlation with severity of NP.