How Do Fluctuations in Pain, Fatigue, Anxiety, Depressed Mood, and Perceived Cognitive Function Relate to Same-Day Social Participation in Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury?
Duygu Kuzu, Jonathan P Troost, Noelle E Carlozzi and 3 others
PMID 34454899WHAT IT FOUND
On days when people with spinal cord injury had more fatigue, depressed mood, or worse perceived cognitive function than usual, they reported less social participation.
Pain and anxiety did not show same-day links; people with more pain overall participated less.
Key findings
01Within a person, days with higher-than-usual fatigue or depressed mood had lower social participation, and days with higher perceived cognitive function had higher social participation.
02Between people, those with greater average pain or fatigue reported lower social participation, those with greater perceived cognitive function reported higher social participation, and depressed mood and anxiety were not significant.
03When all symptoms were considered together, daily fluctuations in pain intensity and anxiety were not related to same-day social participation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The sample was mostly men and White adults, so results may not apply equally to women and racial minorities with spinal cord injury. The study observed daily diaries over 7 days and cannot show that symptoms caused changes in social participation. Nine of the 178 enrolled adults did not complete any daily diary and were not analyzed, so the findings represent 169 participants. People currently in inpatient care or intensive outpatient physical therapy were excluded, so the sample may not represent those in more intensive rehabilitation. Average symptom scores were close to general population norms, so findings may not apply to people with severe symptom burden.
Declared interests
The supplied article text does not include a funding or conflict-of-interest statement; the publication metadata lists research support from NIH, non-U.S. government, and U.S. government non-PHS sources.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that pain is irrelevant or that changing symptoms will improve participation. Daily pain was not linked to same-day participation, but higher overall pain was linked to lower participation, and the study cannot show cause.