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Mental health and disability among patients with chronic sciatica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 August 2025

I. Sellami ,
A. Feki ,
A. Abbes ,
H. Bejaoui ,
Z. Gassara ,
M. Hajjaji ,
M. L. Masmoudi ,
K. Jmal Hammami ,
M. H. Kallel  and
H. Fourati
...Show all authors
I. Sellami*
Affiliation:
Occupationnal medecine
A. Feki
Affiliation:
Rheumatology, CHU Hedi Chaker
A. Abbes
Affiliation:
Occupationnal medecine
H. Bejaoui
Affiliation:
physical medicine and functional rehabilitation, CHU Habib Bourguiba, Sfax, Tunisia
Z. Gassara
Affiliation:
Rheumatology, CHU Hedi Chaker
M. Hajjaji
Affiliation:
Occupationnal medecine
M. L. Masmoudi
Affiliation:
Occupationnal medecine
K. Jmal Hammami
Affiliation:
Occupationnal medecine
M. H. Kallel
Affiliation:
Rheumatology, CHU Hedi Chaker
H. Fourati
Affiliation:
Rheumatology, CHU Hedi Chaker
S. Baklouti
Affiliation:
Rheumatology, CHU Hedi Chaker
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Sciatica pain represents a typical symptom of spinal radicular syndromes. Disability due to this pain can affect mental health of patients.

Objectives

Our study aims to assess the relationship between mental health and disability among patients with chronic sciatica.

Methods

We conducted a descriptive, analytical and cross-sectional survey among patients suffering from documented common sciatic pain evolving for more than 3 months. We collected socio-professional data. We used the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI).

Results

Our study population was exclusively female, including 69 patients. The mean age of participants was 56.2 ±12.6 years. The most frequent etiology of sciatica pain was a herniated disc, followed by lumbar spinal stenosis and spondylolisthesis. The root path was L5 in 49 cases and S1 in 20 cases. The mean Oswestry score was 25 ± 4.1. The disability was moderate, severe and crippled respectively in 10.1%, 82.6% and 7.2% of patients. Regarding the patients’ anxiety levels, it was found that 76.8%, 20.3%, and 2.9% appeared to have mild, moderate, and severe anxiety, respectively. As for the depression levels of patients, 13 were mildly depressed (18.8%), 20 were moderately depressed (29%), and 36 were severely depressed (52.2%). We found that anxiety and depression were correlated with disability (p = <0.05, r = 0.2).

Conclusions

Our findings highlight a correlation between altered mental health and disability among patients with chronic sciatica. It is crucial to screen psychiatric disorders among these patients in order to improve their well-being.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Information

Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 68 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 33rd European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2025 , pp. S936 - S937
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Psychiatric Association
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