Hope, empathy gaps and pain perception in patients with chronic spondylalgia

Abstract

Chronic spondylalgia affects 50-80% of the population. Hope is a factor which may influence coping with pain as well as cognitive reflection of pain experience. The aim of the study has been to check: 1) whether dependencies exist between hope-state and the pain perception; 2) whether experiencing pain at the time of filling questionnaires matters for the level of hope; 3) whether there is interaction between hope, the pain experienced at the moment of investigation, and memory of the intensity of previously experienced pain. 150 patients with chronic spondylalgia participated in in the study. The study was a cross-sectional study, based on questionnaires (State Hope Scale, and NRS of Pain). The presence of pain at the time of filling questionnaires results in reducing the hope-state, but only in those persons, who had experienced severe pain previously. In case of patients who had experienced slight pain previously, the pain present when filling in the questionnaires is conducive to enhanced hope-state. The results of the study confirm the complex character of relations between hope and pain.