Pain Severity Ratings Among Patients with Comorbid Chronic Pain and PTSD: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2025.3132

Keywords:

posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, psychological trauma, pain severity, Chronic pain

Abstract

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that may occur after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. PTSD is characterized by physiological symptoms such as sleep disturbances and hyperarousal. One understudied symptom in PTSD patients is chronic pain (CP). Acute pain can lead to CP when it persists beyond adaptation. The interconnection between stress and pain has been well-established in fields of neuroscience and psychology, though we still do not fully understand the nature of this clinical relationship.

Methods: In the current retrospective cohort study, we use a sample of patients with PTSD and CP through a database of numerous healthcare organizations called TriNetX. We compare the reported pain severity rating between three groups: those with PTSD and no CP, those with CP and no PTSD, and those with comorbid PTSD and CP. The summary data was compared using a one-way analysis of variance with the Welch statistic.

Results: The average reported pain severity was significantly different between all three groups (F(2, 21288)=279.80, p < .001). The patients with comorbid PTSD and CP reported the highest average pain severity, followed by patients with only CP and then patients with only PTSD.

Conclusion: Our results demonstrate a need to further investigate the complex relationship between PTSD and CP. The higher average pain severity in patients with both disorders suggest that integrated pain management and mental health interventions must be prioritized in this population.

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References

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This bar chart compares the average pain severity (on a scale from 0 to 10) across three distinct groups: individuals with PTSD only, chronic pain (CP) only, and those with both PTSD and chronic pain (PTSD + CP). The group with PTSD only reported the lowest average pain rating, around 3.7. The CP-only group had a higher average rating of approximately 4.5, while the group experiencing both PTSD and chronic pain reported the highest average pain severity at 5.0. This pattern suggests that co-occurrence of PTSD and chronic pain may be associated with a greater perceived pain burden compared to either condition alone.

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Published

2025-06-19

How to Cite

Charron, L., & Espiridion, E. (2025). Pain Severity Ratings Among Patients with Comorbid Chronic Pain and PTSD: A Retrospective Cohort Study. International Journal of Medical Students, 13(2), 169–173. https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2025.3132

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Vol. 13 No. 2 (2025)

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