MONDAY, Sept. 16, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Among youth with chronic pain, a number of individuals are diagnosed with anxiety and depression when compared with their peers without chronic pain, according to a study published online Sept. 9 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Joanne Dudeney, Ph.D., from Macquarie University in Sydney, and colleagues reported the prevalence of clinical anxiety and depression for youth with chronic pain and compared symptoms of anxiety and depression between youth with and without chronic pain. Data were obtained from 79 studies, with 22,956 youth (12,614 with chronic pain).

The researchers found that the prevalence estimate of anxiety diagnoses was 34.6 percent, and 23.9 percent exceeded clinical cutoff scores. The prevalence of depression diagnoses was 12.2 percent; 23.5 percent exceeded clinical cutoff scores. Compared with controls, youth with chronic pain had greater symptoms of anxiety and depression (g = 0.61 and 0.74, respectively). Anxiety and depression may be moderated by sex, age, pain location, and recruitment sample. For all outcomes, there was considerable heterogeneity.

“It is imperative that anxiety and depression be considered alongside pain and disability when assessing younger people with chronic pain and, if relevant, that younger people be provided access to timely psychological care to improve pain outcomes alongside mental health,” the authors write.

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