Abstract

ASSOCIATION OF PAIN AND COMORBIDITIES IN KNEE OSTEO-ARTHRITIS PATIENTS

M. Rangapriya*, M. Karthika, B. Kowsalya, Lini Jacob and Meril Lucy Shibu

ABSTRACT

Over the past decades, Osteoarthritis had become a common cause for severe pain and disability in the population under the elderly age group category. The presence of comorbid conditions can increase the pain in-tensity. Objective: To assess the pain score in knee osteoarthritis pa-tients using a visual analog scale and to describe the relationship be-tween the comorbid conditions and pain in knee osteoarthritis patients. Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted on 104 pa-tients to assess the pain and comorbid conditions in Osteoarthritis pa-tients. The study population was divided into 2, Group A and Group B, and their pain intensity was measured using the visual analog scale. The mean pain scores of both groups were compared and the data obtained were analyzed using Descriptive statistics and student t-test (unpaired). Results: The patients with comorbidities were categorized into 3, who were presented with 1, 2, or 3 comorbid conditions. The ana-lyzed data shows a 95% confidence interval and the mean pain score of group A and group-B was 8.241 and 7.480 respectively. The analysis showed a significant relationship between pain and comorbidities in knee osteoarthritis patients. (p<0.0001). Conclusion: The study concludes that there is a significant correlation between pain and comorbidities in knee oste-oarthritis patients. High preoperative pain levels predict higher postoperative pain intensity and vice versa.

Keywords: Osteoarthritis, TKR, pain score, VAS, co-morbidities.