The aim of this study was to examine the levels of health-related quality of life (HRQoL), pain intensity, and mental distress in participants with chronic low back pain (CLBP), and to examine the differences in the HRQoL of participants with respect to mental distress and the correlations of the examined variables. Data were collected from 148 patients using the SF-36 Health Status Questionnaire (SF-36), the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation–Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) questionnaire, and the visual-analog pain scale (VAS). The results indicate poorer self-assessment of physical health (M_e = 28.1) compared to mental health (M_e = 39.4). Participants with higher levels of mental distress reported significant emotional limitations (p = 0.003), lower energy (p < 0.001), poorer psychological health (p < 0.001) and social functioning (p < 0.001), more pain (p = 0.007), and, ultimately, poorer general health (p < 0.001). The level of mental distress was related to the level of HRQoL, while a correlation with the level of pain of the participants was not found. The study results indicate a connection between the presence of mental distress and almost all aspects of HRQoL in participants with CLBP.

Trigeminal neuralgia causes severe to excruciating pain that often cannot be successfully reduced with current forms of treatment. The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines trigeminal neuralgia as a sudden, usually unilater...

Lumbar radicular pain is a major public health and economic problem. It is among the most common reasons for professional disability. The most common cause of lumbar radicular pain is intervertebral disc herniation, which results from degenerative disc changes. The dominant pain mechanisms are direct pressure of the hernia on the nerve root and the local inflammatory process triggered by intervertebral disc herniation. Treatment of lumbar radicular pain includes conservative, minimally invasive, and surgical treatment. The number of minimally invasive procedures is constantly increasing, and among these methods is epidural administration of steroids and local anesthetic through a transforaminal approach (ESI TF). The aim of this research was to examine the effectiveness of ESI TF as measured by a visual analog scale (VAS) and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), depending on whether there is contact between the herniated intervertebral disc and the nerve root. In both groups of participants, there was a significant reduction in pain intensity, but there was no significant difference between the groups. In the group with disc herniation and nerve root contact, the only significant reduction was in pain intensity (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in measurements in other domains of the ODI. In the group without disc herniation and nerve contact, there was a significant difference in all domains except weight lifting. In the group without contact, there was significant improvement after 1 month (p = 0.001) and 3 months (p < 0.001) according to the ODI, while there was no significant improvement in the group with contact. In addition, there were no significant differences in the distribution of participants based on the ODI and whether disc herniation and nerve contact was present. The results suggest that transforaminal epidural administration of steroids is a clinically effective method for treating lumbar radicular pain caused by intervertebral disc herniation in people with and without nerve root contact, without significant differences.

This prospective study aimed to determine the cognitive and emotional status among patients with chronic pain and to examine the potential influence on the treatment success, measured by the reduction in pain intensity and adherence to pharmacotherapy. A total of seventy patients were followed for two months. The results of the comparison between patients who did and did not follow the physician’s instructions regarding adherence to pharmacotherapy showed a significant difference in cognitive status and a reduction in pain intensity. Patients who followed the physician’s instructions on taking analgesics had significantly higher scores on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) of cognitive status and a substantially higher reduction in pain intensity. Scores on the MoCA test provide statistically significant indications regarding patients’ decision to follow instructions regarding adherence to pharmacotherapy. Scores on the MoCA test, anxiety, age, and pain intensity (measured with a numeric rating scale—NRS) on admission were identified as potential predictors for the reduction in pain intensity. The linear regression model was statistically significant (χ² = 40.0, p < 0.001), explained between 43.5% and 61.1% of variance regarding the reduction in pain intensity. The findings of this study show that cognitive status, measured with MoCA, and emotional status, measured with the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21), significantly influence the reduction in pain intensity and adherence to pharmacotherapy. The results suggest that cognitive and emotional status may be potential predictors of treatment success. This finding points to the importance of a biopsychosocial approach in the treatment of chronic pain, where an important emphasis can be placed on the psychosocial determinants of pain.

Background: Low back pain has frequently been mentioned as the most common sort of chronic pain, and numerous studies have confirmed its influence on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Despite a great deal of research demonstrating the important part that psychological factors play in explaining HRQoL, a therapeutic setting that prioritizes the physical domain still predominates. For this reason, the aim of this study is to assess the relationship between age, pain intensity, pain catastrophizing, depression, anxiety, pain-related anxiety, chronic pain acceptance and the psychological and physical dimensions of HRQoL in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Methods: Data were collected from 201 patients with CLBP using sociodemographic data, the SF-36 Health Status Questionnaire (SF-36), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale Short Form 20 (PASS-20), the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), the Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ-8) and the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NRS). The linear regression model for the dependent variable of Physical Health (SF-36 PhyH) was statistically significant (F (7, 201) = 38.951, p < 0.05), explaining 57.6% of the variance regarding the Physical Health dimension of HRQL in patients with CLBP. Results: The linear regression model for the dependent variable of Psychological Health (SF-36 PsyH) was statistically significant (F (7, 200) = 39.049, p < 0.05), explaining 57.7% of the variance regarding the Psychological Health dimension of HRQL in patients with CLBP. Conclusions: The findings of this study confirm that age, pain intensity, depression, pain-related anxiety and chronic pain acceptance are significant predictors of the physical dimension of HRQoL, while pain intensity, anxiety and depression proved to be significant predictors of the psychological dimension of HRQoL in patients with CLBP.

Lumbar disk herniation is a common cause of pain in people older than 30, often associated with workload, where the therapeutic approach includes different methods of treatment; therefore, the aim of the study was to inspect the effectiveness of different methods of treating pain caused by lumbar disk herniation in relation to pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory parameters before and after two weeks of therapy. There were twenty-eight participants with a diagnosis confirmed by a specialist who also assigned the participant to a clinically appropriate type of treatment. Pain and disability were assessed using the SF-MPQ and ODI (Title: Immune Response During the Conservative and Minimal Invasive Treatment of Pain Caused by Lumbar Disc Herniation, Clinical Trials Number (NCT06545812), Initial Release 23 July 2024, Last Release 27 August 2025). In addition to the above questionnaires, serum samples were collected before and after therapy for analysis of inflammatory biomarkers. Although there was no statistically significant difference, the tendency of decreases in IL-1 beta and IL-8 in the median levels (interquartile range) was observed after conservative treatment. The results indicate role of inflammatory mechanisms in the treatment of disk herniation and support the benefits of a conservative approach through the regulation of pain, disability, and cytokine activity.