Predictors of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Indicators in a Cohort of Women with Chronic Pelvic Pain

Tiffany Brooks,1,2 Rebecca Sharp,1 Susan Evans,3 John Baranoff,3,4 Adrian Esterman1,5 1School of Nursing and Midwifery, The University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia; 2Aware Women’s Health, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia; 3Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia; 4Centre for Treatment of Anxiety and Depression, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia; 5Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, AustraliaCorrespondence: Tiffany Brooks 257 Melbourne Street, North Adelaide, South Australia 5006, AustraliaEmail [email protected]: Establishing predictors of mental health outcomes is a crucial precursor to the development and assessment of psychological interventions for women with chronic pelvic pain (CPP). The objective of this study was to identify predictors of depression, anxiety and stress in a cohort of women with CPP.Design: Cross-sectional analytic study.Methods: Pre-treatment questionnaires were collected from 212 women with CPP, who had attended a private specialist pelvic pain clinic over a period of 18 months. Multivariate linear regression with backwards elimination was used to determine the best joint predictors of depression, anxiety and stress scores on the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 item (DASS 21).Results: Of 19 potential predictor variables, seven key predictors of depression, anxiety and stress indicators were identified. Higher depression scores were associated with higher current pain severity, a history of stabbing pains, prior experience of a sexually distressing event, having experienced pain as a child, and never having been pregnant before. Higher anxiety scores were associated with higher current pain severity, a history of stabbing pains, prior experience of a sexually distressing event, younger age of menarche, and younger age. Predictors of high-stress scores were higher current pain severity, a history of stabbing pains, prior experience of a sexually distressing event, and being younger.Conclusion: We have identified several important predictors of mental health in women with CPP. Using this information, psychological assessment and treatment for these women may be better tailored to client needs.Keywords: pelvic, pain, women, psychology, predictors, health