The Relationship Between Life Purpose With Depression and Disability in Acute Low Back Pain Patients.
Elizabeth Salt, Amanda C Wiggins, Mary Kay Rayens and 4 others
PMID 30247411WHAT IT FOUND
Higher life purpose was linked to fewer depressive symptoms in 42 adults with recent low back pain.
It was not linked to activity limitations after accounting for age, sex and work.
Key findings
01Higher life purpose was associated with fewer depressive symptoms in adults with acute low back pain.
02Life purpose did not predict perceived functional disability after accounting for age, gender, and work status.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Only 42 of the 44 recruited adults had complete life purpose data. The analysis used baseline cross-sectional data, so it cannot show that life purpose caused lower depression or changed disability. The sample was small and mostly female from one region. The mean disability score was 7.5 of 24, and the range was 0 to 18, so the study may not capture patients with severe disability. No intervention was tested, so this does not show that improving life purpose changes outcomes. Only 7% had a depressive symptom score of 19 or higher, the cutoff for clinical depression.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that helping patients find life purpose will reduce depression or disability. The study was cross-sectional, so it shows association only. It also did not find an adjusted association between life purpose and disability.