Pain catastrophizing and pre-operative psychological state are predictive of chronic pain after joint arthroplasty of the hip, knee or shoulder: results of a prospective, comparative study at one year follow-up

PURPOSE: To assess the relationship between pre-operative psychological state, postoperative pain and function one year after total shoulder, hip or knee arthroplasty. METHODS: Patients undergoing shoulder, hip or knee arthroplasty between March 2014 and November 2015 were included. Pain catastrophizing score (PCS) was determined preoperatively, at six months and at one year follow-up. Joint pain at rest was quantified using a Visual Analogue Scale (0‒100). Depressive symptoms were measured using the Beck Depression Inventory or Geriatric Depression Score, situational anxiety and dispositional anxiety were measured using the State-Trait Inventory and joint function was assessed using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index for the hip and knee and Oxford Shoulder Score for the shoulder. RESULTS: A total of 266 patients were included (65% female; mean (± SD) age: 71.8 ± 10.3 years; mean body mass index: 27.5 ± 5.0 kg/m(2)). Pre-operative PCS was significantly correlated with pain > 30/100 at one year and with functional scores, for all joints. Multivariate analysis identified the following variables as risk factors for pain intensity > 30/100 at one year: pre-operative PCS > 20/52 (OR = 3.5 ± 1.1 [95% CI: 1.9‒6.6]; p = 0.0001), trait-anxiety score ≥ 46 (OR = 2.4 ± 0.9 [95% CI: 1.1‒5.2]; p = 0.03), pre-operative pain ≥ 60/100 (OR = 3.2 ± 1 [95% CI: 1.8‒6.1]; p = 0.0001) and pain for at least 3 years (OR = 1.8 ± 0.6 [95% CI: 1‒3.4]; p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Pre-operative pain catastrophizing and trait-anxiety are risk factors for post-operative pain after shoulder, hip and knee arthroplasty. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT02361359.