Background: Few studies have focused on depressive symptoms among patients with chronic low back pain in China. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the prevalence and associated factors of depressive symptoms in patients with chronic low back pain.Methods: From May to August 2021, 1,172 patients with chronic low back pain were recruited in China. Depressive symptoms were assessed through the Patient Health Questionnaire. Associations of demographic characteristics, clinical characters and social-psychological factors with depressive symptoms were investigated among patients with chronic low back pain.Results: The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 25.00%. Logistic regression analysis found that duration of pain in 1-5 years (1-3 years: OR = 2.91, 95%CI: 1.65-5.14, 3-5 years: OR = 3.09, 95%CI: 1.55-6.15) and more severe pain (OR = 1.13, 95%CI: 1.10-1.17) were associated with higher risks of depressive symptoms. Better family function (good family function: OR = 0.25, 95%CI: 0.15-0.41, moderate family dysfunction: OR = 0.47, 95%CI: 0.29-0.77) and higher pain self-efficacy (OR = 0.94, 95%CI: 0.93-0.95) were associated with lower risks of depressive symptoms.Conclusion: Patients with chronic low back pain have a high prevalence of depressive symptoms in China. Duration of pain, pain severity, family function and pain self-efficacy were predictors of depressive symptoms among chronic low back pain patients in China. Early identification of the associated factors may be helpful for the timely management of depressive symptoms.

BackgroundThis study aimed to investigate the prevalence of anxiety symptoms among patients with chronic low back pain and explore its related factors.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted on patients with chronic low back pain from two general hospitals in China. Anxiety symptoms were assessed by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7. Binary logistic regression was used to examine the association between demographic characteristics, pain severity, pain self-efficacy, family functioning and anxiety symptoms.ResultsThis study involved 1,172 chronic low back pain patients, with an effective rate of 94.67%. The prevalence of anxiety symptoms among patients with chronic low back pain in China was 23.89%. In the binary logistic regression, patients with more severe pain (OR = 1.15, 95%CI: 1.11–1.18) and pain duration between 1~5 years (1~3 years: OR = 2.45, 95%CI: 1.38–4.36; 3~5 years: OR = 2.99, 95%CI: 1.49–6.00) had a higher risk to anxiety symptoms. In contrast, patients with higher monthly income (OR = 0.62, 95%CI: 0.39–0.98), better family functioning (highly functional family: OR = 0.22, 95% CI: 0.13–0.37; moderately dysfunctional family: OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.27–0.72) and higher pain self-efficacy (OR = 0.95, 95%CI: 0.94–0.96) had a lower risk to anxiety symptoms.ConclusionThe prevalence of anxiety symptoms among chronic low back pain patients was high in China. Targeted intervention measures should be taken to reduce anxiety symptoms levels of chronic low back pain patients.

Background Earlier research works have studied the part that cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) plays in the carcinogenesis of malignant bone tumors, nonetheless, findings had inconsistency. The current investigation aims at clarifying the association between CTLA-4 polymorphism and malignant bone tumor susceptibility through the meta-analysis.Methods We searched pertinent research works in not just PubMed, but also EMBASE, Cochrane library, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases in humans published before October 2019. The use of the pooled odds ratio (OR) with its 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was made for estimating the strengths of the correlation existing between the CTLA-4 genetic polymorphism and malignant bone tumors susceptibility. An aggregate of six research works with 1191 malignant bone tumors patients and 1418 controls were selected eventually. The pooled results shed light on the fact that CTLA-4 +49G/A polymorphism had a significant correlation with an augmented vulnerability to the malignant bone tumors (A vs. G: OR=1.37, 95%CI=1.22-1.54; GA vs. GG: OR=1.20, 95%CI=1.01-1.42; AA vs. GG: OR=2.13, 95%CI=1.63-2.78; GA+AA vs. GG: OR=1.35, 95%CI=1.15-1.59; AA vs. GG+GA: OR=2.02, 95%CI=1.60-2.56). Subgroup analysis indicated that there exists a statistically significant correlation between CTLA-4 +49G/A polymorphism and augmented susceptibility to the malignant bone tumor in the population-based or hospital-based samples, and Ewing’s sarcoma or osteosarcoma. Moreover, there was also not observed any considerable heterogeneity across the research works. Results Our results suggest that the CTLA-4 +49G/A polymorphism may play a pivotal part in the carcinogenesis of malignant bone tumors. Conclusions More research works, on the basis of the large sample sizes as well as homogeneous specimens, are needed in order to verify these results.