Gender Based Differences in Pain, Anxiety, and Disability in Response to Epidural Steroid Injection for Low Back Pain: Pain, Anxiety, and Disability in Epidural Steroid Injection for Low Back Pain

Sadia Waheed Khan; Ateeq Ur Rehman Ghafoor; Muhammad Ishaq; Asma Bhatti; Rabbiya Khalid; Ammar Khalid; Azeem Nasir; Alishba Wamiq

doi:10.54393/pjhs.v7i2.3550

Authors

Sadia Waheed Khan Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Evercare Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan
Ateeq Ur Rehman Ghafoor Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Evercare Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan
Muhammad Ishaq Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Evercare Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan
Asma Bhatti Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Evercare Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan
Rabbiya Khalid Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Evercare Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan
Ammar Khalid Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Evercare Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan
Azeem Nasir Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Evercare Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan
Alishba Wamiq Department of Physical Therapy, Dundee University, Scotland, United Kingdom

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54393/pjhs.v7i2.3550

Keywords:

Gender Difference, Epidural Steroid Injection, Low Back Pain, Anxiety

Abstract

Emerging research suggests that pain perception, tolerance, and response to treatment may differ between males and females due to a complex interplay of biological, psychological and sociocultural factors. Objective: To determine gender differences in pain intensity, anxiety, depression, and disability outcomes following epidural steroid injection in patients with chronic low back pain. Methods: This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2024 to January 2025 after taking approval from the IRB of Evercare Hospital Lahore. Total 9 male and 9 female patients with low back pain were enrolled from the Anesthesia and Pain Medicine Department. Fluoroscopy-guided epidural injection was performed in all patients. Patients were followed at 3 and 6 weeks to assess pain, anxiety, depression, and disability. Data were analyzed using SPSS v26. Results: At both 3 and 6 weeks, females reported significantly lower mean Visual analogue scores (2.44 ± 0.53 and 2.11 ± 1.06, p=0.007) compared to males (5.11 ± 2.52 and 5.11 ± 2.26; p=0.002). Oswestry Disability scores were considerably lower in females at 3 weeks and 6 weeks; p=0.04. However, no significant gender differences were observed in HADS anxiety and depression scores at any follow-up point (p>0.05). Conclusions: The current study suggests that female patients demonstrated greater reductions in pain and disability scores than male patients following fluoroscopy-guided epidural steroid injection, whereas changes in anxiety and depression scores were comparable between genders. These findings indicate that gender may influence physical, but not psychological, recovery outcomes after the procedure.

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