Abstract

Marital adjustment, psychological distress, health attitudes and prevalence of musculoskeletal pain symptoms were studied and compared between 63 chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients and their spouses. The CLBP patients experienced somatization significantly more than their spouses, while other psychological distress scores did not reveal statistically significant differences between the couples. The CLBP patients experienced significantly more feelings of guilt at having pain than their spouses. The patients experienced significantly more internal control, while their spouses experienced more external locus control of health. The female spouses had had significantly more musculoskeletal pain symptoms in neck and shoulders during the past week than the male spouses. The prevalence of musculoskeletal pain symptoms in the CLBP patients did not differ significantly between sexes. The results of this study are compared to population studies where the same methods have been used.