Abstract
Estimates of patients with chronic pain who also have significant depression vary from 35% to 72%, depending on the sample and measure of depression used [41–43]. Although improvements in depression do not necessarily result in reductions in pain severity (in fact, the opposite pattern exists, with reductions in pain severity associated with subsequent reductions in depression [44]), treating depression can reduce the negative effects of pain on patient functioning [45]. Moreover, depression can contribute to the suffering associated with pain, and can interfere with motivation to engage in more active and adaptive pain coping responses [46,47]. When present, depression should be treated; and as indicated above, depression is present in many patients with chronic pain. A large number of measures of depression exist. One measure that is appropriate to use in a busy clinical setting is the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2).
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© 2011 Springer Healthcare, a part of Springer Science+Business Media
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Jensen, M.P. (2011). Measuring depression. In: The pain stethoscope: A clinician’s guide to measuring pain. Springer Healthcare, Tarporley. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-908517-43-2_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-908517-43-2_8
Publisher Name: Springer Healthcare, Tarporley
Print ISBN: 978-1-907673-22-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-908517-43-2
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