ABSTRACT

Background: Recent studies have been reported a strong link between psychological problems such as depression, stres, anxiety and somatization the lower back pain arising from them. We aimed to investigate relations between psychological problems and lomber disc hernias (LDH).

The sample was comprised of 34 patients with LDH who were operates and 40 healthy controls with similar sociodemographic features. Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HAD) and pain severities were measured by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were applied to all patients and controls.

Somatization levels were significantly higher in the patient group than the healthy controls. HAD, STAI and VAS scores were not statistically significant (p>0,05)..

The relationship between psychosocial distress measured with clinical assessment scales in LDH patients is weak except somatization subscale of SCL-90-R.