Association of Health-Related Quality of Life and Pain Medication Perception Among Chronic Low Back Pain Patients at Tertiary Care Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study

Rebika KC,1 Rojeena Koju Shrestha,1 Sweta Shrestha,1 Rohit Shrestha,2 Durga Bista1 1Department of Pharmacy, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, Bagmati, Nepal; 2Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Dhulikhel Hospital, Dhulikhel, Bagmati, NepalCorrespondence: Rojeena Koju Shrestha, Department of Pharmacy, Kathmandu University, P.O. Box 6250, Dhulikhel, Bagmati, Nepal, Email [email protected] Sweta Shrestha, Department of Pharmacy, Kathmandu University, P.O. Box 6250, Dhulikhel, Bagmati, Nepal, Email [email protected]: Chronic low back pain (cLBP) is a commonly occurring and debilitating disorder that impacts health related quality of life (HRQOL) which in turn affects their perception toward pain medication. This study was carried on to assess the association between HRQOL and pain medication perceptions among cLBP patients. The study aims to enhance patient-centered care by identifying sociodemographic traits, common therapeutic drugs, and associations between HRQOL and pain medication perceptions.Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study design was employed, involving 350 patients diagnosed with cLBP the Orthopedics and Traumatology Outpatient Department of Dhulikhel Hospital (DH), Nepal. Data collection was performed via two structured of questionnaires; WHO Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) for assessing HRQOL and the Pain Medication Attitude Questionnaire (PMAQ -14) for evaluating patients’ perception of pain medication.Results: The study revealed notable negative correlations between concerns over addiction, side-effects, tolerance, and withdrawal and both overall quality of life (OQOL) (rs = − 0.273, rs = − 0.160, rs = − 0.287 and rs = − 0.304) and physical health domain (PD) (rs = − 0.265, rs = − 0.108, rs = − 0.307 and rs = − 0.272). This suggests that greater concerns regarding these factors were linked to a lower quality of life (QoL). However, the perceived necessity for pain medication displayed a slight positive correlation with general health satisfaction (GHS) of QoL where (rs = 0.132), whereas concerns such as scrutiny with Social Relationship Domain (SRD) (rs = − 0.105) and mistrust in doctor showed weaker and negligible associations.Conclusion: This study revealed that transformed OQOL was moderate with physical and psychological domains being the most impaired. Among the four domain scores, the highest score was in the SRD, while PD scored the lowest. Participants have neither good nor bad perceptions of QoL and are dissatisfied with their health showing significant concerns about addiction, side effects, and withdrawal, while societal judgement was minimal.Keywords: chronic low back pain, prescription patterns, quality of life, pain medication attitude