The effect of personality traits on the interventional treatment response in patients with chronic mechanical low back pain

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the personality characteristics of patients with chronic mechanical low back pain who applied to our pain clinic and to investigate whether it has an effect on interventional treatment response. Thus, it is aimed to contribute to the process of developing a personalized treatment plan, which has gained importance nowadays. With personalized treatments, patient satisfaction increases, the cost-effectiveness ratio decreases, the treatment results quickly, the physician and the patient do not take unnecessary risks, and complications will be avoided. Materials and Methods: Sixty-seven patients, aged 18-65 years, who underwent an interventional treatment plan for chronic mechanical low back pain, whose voluntary consent documents were obtained after approval from the local ethics committee of our hospital were included in the study. Sociodemographic characteristics of the patients, including age, gender, and chronic diseases other than pain, were recorded. The personality traits of the patients were determined using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised Short Form (EPQR-A). Pain scores and quality of life questionnaire were used to evaluate the patients' response to treatment. Pain scores were evaluated with Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and recorded at first admission, 1 month and 3 months after intervention. The quality of life of the patients was evaluated with the Short Form Health Questionnaire (SF-36) and recorded at the first admission, 1 month and 3 months after the intervention. It was examined whether there was a correlation between personality traits, pain scores and quality of life. Results: The mean age of the patients included in the study was 50.8±12.3 years. 64.2% of the patients were female and 35.8 % were male. It was observed that 58.2% of the patients did not have a chronic disease other than a pain-related disease. When the patients were grouped according to their diagnosis, all of them had lumbar disc herniation (LDH). Dorsal root ganglion blockade was applied to 70.1% of the patients and epidural transforaminal steroid injection was applied to 29.9% of the patients. There was also a significant decrease in the VAS values (VAS 1-VAS 3) before the intervention and at the 3rd month after the intervention (p<0.05); There was no difference between the VAS scores at the 1st month and the VAS scores at the 3rd month (VAS 2-VAS 3) after the intervention (p>0.05). The decrease in the VAS scores of the patients was associated with an increase in the quality of life (p<0.05). Physical component summary score at first admission (r = -0.2; p< 0.05), 1st month (r = -0.4; p< 0.05), and 3rd month (r = -0.4) ; p< 0.05) was weakly correlated with neuroticism (neurotic) personality at his appointment (n=67). As the neurotic personality trait increases, physical health decreases. Quality of life mental health summary score was moderately negatively correlated with neuroticism personality at the 1st month (r = -0.4; p<0.05) and 3rd month (r = -0.4; p<0.05) appointment (n=67). As the neurotic personality trait increases, mental health decreases. There was no significant relationship between extraversion, psychoticism and lying-bias personality traits and SF-36 (Short Form Health Survey Questionnaire) dimensions. Conclusion: In this study, it was observed that as neurotic personality trait increased, pain relief decreased after interventional treatment. It has been observed that as the neurotic personality trait increases, both the physical and mental quality of life decreases. No relationship was found between extraversion, psychoticism and quality of life. Personalizing the treatment plan by determining the personality traits of individuals in need of chronic low back pain treatment will increase the cost-effectiveness ratio and patient-physician satisfaction; We believe that it will provide fast and successful results in pain treatment Keywords: Low back pain, interventional pain treatment, personality traits, quality of life, EPQR-A Form, , visual analog scale, Short Form Health Survey Questionnaire SF-36