• S Lee, P P Chen, A Lee, M Ma, C M Fong, and T Gin.
• Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Whales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong.
• Hong Kong Med J. 2005 Jun 1; 11 (3): 174-80.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the health-related quality of life in Hong Kong Chinese patients with chronic non-cancer pain.DesignProspective cross-sectional survey.SettingRegional public hospitals, Hong Kong.PatientsPatients attending out-patient pain management clinics between 1 July 2002 and 28 February 2003 were approached to complete a set of standardised questionnaires.Main Outcome MeasuresDemographic profiles, treatment modality, litigation, compensation, social welfare status, Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale, and Medical Outcomes Survey short-form health survey (SF36).ResultsData from 166 patients were analysed. The median numeric pain rating score was 6 (interquartile range, 2-10). Work-related injury occurred in 34.3% of patients, while another 34% were involved in pain-related litigation and 32% were receiving disability or unemployment benefit. Sixty-four percent of patients were managed by three or more disciplines, while 54.8% were also receiving complimentary alternative medical treatment, mainly traditional Chinese medicine (49.7%). The Hospital Anxiety Depression Score indicated clinical anxiety or depression in 71.1% of patients. All SF36 subscale scores were lower than the local population norm. Unemployed patients had higher depression scores (P = 0.005), while students or retirees had lower physical functioning scores (P = 0.004). Patients who were single had higher role emotion scores than those who were married or separated/widowed (P = 0.011). Logistic regression analysis showed that younger age (odds ratio = 0.95), being married (6.62), work-related injury (15.63) or higher general scores (1.03) were more likely to be associated with litigation. Social welfare benefit was associated with unemployment (3.39) and a lower level of physical functioning (0.98).ConclusionThere was a high prevalence of clinical anxiety, depression, and severe impairment in the health-related quality of life in Hong Kong Chinese patients with chronic non-cancer pain. Specific factors affected the health-related quality of life, likelihood of litigation, and social benefit.

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