Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-t5pn6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T12:29:28.064Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The dynamic relationship between pain, depression and cognitive function in a sample of newly diagnosed arthritic adults: a cross-lagged panel model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2019

Richard J. E. James Open the ORCID record for Richard J. E. James [Opens in a new window]  and
Eamonn Ferguson Open the ORCID record for Eamonn Ferguson [Opens in a new window]
Richard J. E. James*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, UK, NG7 2RD Arthritis UK Pain Centre, Academic Rheumatology, City Hospital, Nottingham, UK NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
Eamonn Ferguson
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, UK, NG7 2RD Arthritis UK Pain Centre, Academic Rheumatology, City Hospital, Nottingham, UK
*
Author for correspondence: Richard J. E. James, E-mail: lpzrj@nottingham.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Pain and depression are common in the population and co-morbid with each other. Both are predictive of one another and are also associated with cognitive function; people who are in greater pain and more depressed respectively perform less well on tests of cognitive function. It has been argued that pain might cause deterioration in cognitive function, whereas better cognitive function earlier in life might be a protective factor against the emergence of disease. When looking at the dynamic relationship between these in chronic diseases, studying samples that already have advanced disease progression often confounds this relationship.

Methods

Using data from waves 1 to 3 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) (n = 516), we examined the interplay between pain, cognitive function and depression in a subsample of respondents reporting a diagnosis of arthritis at wave 2 of the ELSA using cross-lagged panel models.

Results

The models showed that pain, cognitive function and depression at wave 1, prior to diagnosis, predict pain at wave 2, and that pain at wave 1 predicts depression at wave 2. Pain and depression at wave 2 predict cognitive function at wave 3.

Conclusions

The results indicate that better cognitive function might be protective against the emergence of pain prior to an arthritis diagnosis, but cognitive function is subsequently impaired by pain and depression. Furthermore, higher depression predicts lower cognitive function, but not vice versa. This is discussed in the context of the emerging importance of inflammation in depression.

Keywords

Arthritiscognitive functiondepressionlongitudinalpain
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 50 , Issue 10 , July 2020 , pp. 1663 - 1671
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alamanos, Y and Drosos, AA (2005) Epidemiology of adult rheumatoid arthritis. Autoimmunity Reviews 4, 130–136.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baker, NA, Barbour, KE, Helmick, CG, Zack, M and Al Snih, S (2017) Arthritis and cognitive impairment in older adults. Rheumatology International 37, 955–961.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Banks, J, Muriel, A and Smith, JP (2011) Attrition and health in ageing studies: evidence from ELSA and HRS. Longitudinal and Life Course Studies 2, 1–26.Google ScholarPubMed
Berryman, C, Stanton, TR, Bowering, JK, Tabor, A, McFarlane, A and Moseley, LG (2013) Evidence for working memory deficits in chronic pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Pain 154, 1181–1196.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowling, A, Seetai, S, Morris, R and Ebrahim, S (2007) Quality of life among older people with poor functioning. The influence of perceived control over life. Age and Ageing 36, 310–315.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campbell, LC, Clauw, DJ and Keefe, FJ (2003) Persistent pain and depression: a biopsychosocial perspective. Biological Psychiatry 54, 399–409.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Castillo, RC, Wegener, ST, Heins, SE, Haythornthwaite, JA, MacKenzie, EJ and Bosse, MJ (2013) Longitudinal relationships between anxiety, depression, and pain: results from a two-year cohort study of lower extremity trauma patients. PAIN® 154, 2860–2866.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chou, K-L (2007) Reciprocal relationship between pain and depression in older adults: evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Journal of Affective Disorders 102, 115–123.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Costa, PT (1987) Influence of the normal personality dimension of neuroticism on chest pain symptoms and coronary artery disease. The American Journal of Cardiology 60, J20–J26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Courtin, E and Knapp, M (2017) Social isolation, loneliness and health in old age: a scoping review. Health & Social Care in the Community 25, 799–812.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Croft, PR, Lewis, M, Papageorgiou, AC, Thomas, E, Jayson, MIV, Macfarlane, GJ and Silman, AJ (2001) Risk factors for neck pain: a longitudinal study in the general population. Pain 93, 317–325.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
de Goeij, M, van Eijk, LT, Vanelderen, P, Wilder-Smith, OH, Vissers, KC, van der Hoeven, JG and Pickkers, P (2013) Systemic inflammation decreases pain threshold in humans in vivo. PLoS ONE 8, e84159.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Deary, IJ, Weiss, A and Batty, GD (2010) Intelligence and personality as predictors of illness and death: how researchers in differential psychology and chronic disease epidemiology are collaborating to understand and address health inequalities. Psychological Science in the Public Interest 11, 53–79.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dowlati, Y, Herrmann, N, Swardfager, W, Liu, H, Sham, L, Reim, EK and Lanctôt, KL (2010) A meta-analysis of cytokines in major depression. Biological Psychiatry 67, 446–457.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Drageset, J (2004) The importance of activities of daily living and social contact for loneliness: a survey among residents in nursing homes. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences 18, 65–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eccleston, C and Crombez, G (1999) Pain demands attention: a cognitive–affective model of the interruptive function of pain. Psychological Bulletin 125, 356.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edwards, RR, Cahalan, C, Mensing, G, Smith, M and Haythornthwaite, JA (2011) Pain, catastrophizing, and depression in the rheumatic diseases. Nature Reviews Rheumatology 7, 216–224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ferreira-Valente, MA, Pais-Ribeiro, JL and Jensen, MP (2011) Validity of four pain intensity rating scales. PAIN® 152, 2399–2404.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gale, CR, Allerhand, M and Deary, IJ (2012 a) Is there a bidirectional relationship between depressive symptoms and cognitive ability in older people? A prospective study using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Psychological Medicine 42, 2057–2069.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gale, CR, Deary, IJ, Cooper, C and Batty, GD (2012 b) Intelligence in childhood and chronic widespread pain in middle age: the National Child Development Survey. PAIN® 153, 2339–2344.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gatchel, RJ, Peng, YB, Peters, ML, Fuchs, PN and Turk, DC (2007) The biopsychosocial approach to chronic pain: scientific advances and future directions. Psychological Bulletin 133, 581–624.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Geerlings, SW, Twisk, JWR, Beekman, ATF, Deeg, DJH and van Tilburg, W (2002) Longitudinal relationship between pain and depression in older adults: sex, age and physical disability. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 37, 23–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gerrits, MMJG, van Marwijk, HWJ, van Oppen, P, van der Horst, H and Penninx, BWJH (2015) Longitudinal association between pain, and depression and anxiety over four years. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 78, 64–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goubert, L, Crombez, G and Van Damme, S (2004) The role of neuroticism, pain catastrophizing and pain-related fear in vigilance to pain: a structural equations approach. Pain 107, 234–241.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hamaker, EL, Kuiper, RM and Grasman, RPPP (2015) A critique of the cross-lagged panel model. Psychological Methods 20, 102–116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hawker, GA, Gignac, MAM, Badley, E, Davis, AM, French, MR, Li, Y and Lou, W (2011) A longitudinal study to explain the pain-depression link in older adults with osteoarthritis. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken) 63, 1382–1390.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holahan, CK and Holahan, CJ (1987) Self-efficacy, social support, and depression in aging: a longitudinal analysis. Journal of Gerontology 42, 65–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hu, LT and Bentler, PM (1999) Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal 6, 1–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, S-W, Wang, W-T, Chou, L-C, Liao, C-D, Liou, T-H and Lin, H-W (2015) Osteoarthritis increases the risk of dementia: a nationwide cohort study in Taiwan. Scientific Reports 5, 10145.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hurwitz, EL, Morgenstern, H and Yu, F (2003) Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of low-back pain and related disability with psychological distress among patients enrolled in the UCLA Low-Back Pain Study. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 56, 463–471.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, RJE, Walsh, DA and Ferguson, E (2018) General and disease specific pain trajectories as predictors of social and political outcomes in arthritis and cancer. BMC Medicine 16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, RJE, Walsh, DA and Ferguson, E (2019) Trajectories of pain predict disabilities affecting daily living in arthritis. British Journal of Health Psychology 1–12 (in press).Google ScholarPubMed
Johnson, VL and Hunter, DJ (2014) The epidemiology of osteoarthritis. Best Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology 28, 5–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keefe, FJ, Brown, GK, Wallston, KA and Caldwell, DS (1989) Coping with rheumatoid arthritis pain: catastrophizing as a maladaptive strategy. Pain 37, 51–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keefe, FJ, Lefebvre, JC, Egert, JR, Affleck, G, Sullivan, MJ and Caldwell, DS (2000) The relationship of gender to pain, pain behavior, and disability in osteoarthritis patients: the role of catastrophizing. Pain 87, 325–334.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kroenke, K, Wu, J, Bair, MJ, Krebs, EE, Damush, TM and Tu, W (2011) Reciprocal relationship between pain and depression: a 12-month longitudinal analysis in primary care. The Journal of Pain 12, 964–973.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leonard, BE (2007) Inflammation, depression and dementia: are they connected? Neurochemical Research 32, 1749–1756.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lépine, J-P and Briley, M (2004) The epidemiology of pain in depression. Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental 19, S3–S7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maier, SF and Watkins, LR (1998) Cytokines for psychologists: implications of bidirectional immune-to-brain communication for understanding behavior, mood, and cognition. Psychological Review 105, 83–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marmot, M, Oldfield, Z, Clemens, S, Blake, M, Phelps, A, Nazroo, J, Steptoe, A, Rogers, N, Banks, J and Oskala, A (2016) English Longitudinal Study of Ageing: Waves 0–7, 1998–2015. [data collection]. 25th Edition. SN: 5050, http://doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-5050-12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCracken, LM and Iverson, GL (2001) Predicting complaints of impaired cognitive functioning in patients with chronic pain. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 21, 392–396.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McDermott, LM and Ebmeier, KP (2009) A meta-analysis of depression severity and cognitive function. Journal of Affective Disorders 119, 1–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McInnes, IB and Schett, G (2011) The pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. New England Journal of Medicine 365, 2205–2219.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McWilliams, LA, Goodwin, RD and Cox, BJ (2004) Depression and anxiety associated with three pain conditions: results from a nationally representative sample. Pain 111, 77–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moriarty, O, McGuire, BE and Finn, DP (2011) The effect of pain on cognitive function: a review of clinical and preclinical research. Progress in Neurobiology 93, 385–404.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muthén, BO and Muthén, LK (1998–2015) Mplus User's Guide, 7th Edn. Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.Google Scholar
Neogi, T (2013) The epidemiology and impact of pain in osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 21, 1145–1153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nicholson, NR (2012) A review of social isolation: an important but underassessed condition in older adults. The Journal of Primary Prevention 33, 137–152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Reilly, SC, Muir, KR and Doherty, M (1998) Knee pain and disability in the Nottingham community: association with poor health status and psychological distress. Rheumatology 37, 870–873.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quartana, PJ, Campbell, CM and Edwards, RR (2009) Pain catastrophizing: a critical review. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics 9, 745–758.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Radloff, LS (1977) The CES-D scale. Applied Psychological Measurement 1, 385–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roach, AR, Solberg Nes, L and Segerstrom, SC (2009) Executive functions, self-regulation, and chronic pain: a review. Annals of Behavioral Medicine 37, 173–183.Google Scholar
Salkeld, G, Cumming, RG, Thomas, M and Szonyi, G (2000) Prospective study of the impact of fear of falling on activities of daily living, SF-36 scores, and nursing home admission. The Journals of Gerontology: Series A 55, M299–M305.Google Scholar
Sofi, F, Valecchi, D, Bacci, D, Abbate, R, Gensini, GF, Casini, A and Macchi, C (2011) Physical activity and risk of cognitive decline: a meta-analysis of prospective studies. Journal of Internal Medicine 269, 107–117.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stubbs, B, Vancampfort, D, Veronese, N, Thompson, T, Fornaro, M, Schofield, P and Koyanagi, A (2017) Depression and pain: primary data and meta-analysis among 237 952 people across 47 low- and middle-income countries. Psychological Medicine 47, 2906–2917.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stubhaug, A, Breivik, H, Kvarstein, G, Romundstad, L, Rosseland, LA, Allen, SM and Borchgrevink, PC (2008) Assessment of pain. BJA: British Journal of Anaesthesia 101, 17–24.Google Scholar
Sturgeon, JA and Zautra, AJ (2013) State and trait pain catastrophizing and emotional health in rheumatoid arthritis. Annals of Behavioral Medicine 45, 69–77.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valkanova, V, Ebmeier, KP and Allan, CL (2013) CRP, IL-6 and depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Journal of Affective Disorders 150, 736–744.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Verbrugge, LM and Juarez, L (2006) Profile of arthritis disability: II. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken) 55, 102–113.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Veronese, N, Koyanagi, A, Solmi, M, Thompson, T, Maggi, S, Schofield, P and Stubbs, B (2018) Pain is not associated with cognitive decline in older adults: a four-year longitudinal study. Maturitas 115, 92–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yaffe, K, Kanaya, A, Lindquist, K, Simonsick, EM, Harris, T, Shorr, RI and Newman, AB (2004) The metabolic syndrome, inflammation, and risk of cognitive decline. JAMA 292, 2237–2242.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

James and Ferguson supplementary material

James and Ferguson supplementary material 1

Download James and Ferguson supplementary material(File)
File 15.9 KB