Trauma antecedents, alexithymia and quality of life in persons with primary and secondary chronic pain

Chronic pain is an emerging public health problem impacting large number of individuals but is poorly understood in terms of mechanisms and causes. Very few studies have been conducted that study the role of trauma antecedents in the development or maintenance of chronic pain. There is enough literature that establishes linkages between trauma, alexithymia and chronic pain separately but there is a need to study them together. Almost all previous research has limited itself to either a specific gender, condition, culture and the variables have been studied only in pairs. There exists no published study that looks at the association between all three variables in chronic pain conditions. The present study aims to bridge that gap by exploring associations among all the three variables and comparing them across the two conditions. According to the literature review conducted, almost all studies have focused on specific chronic pain disorders due to increased heterogeneity. However, recent discourse around chronic pain points towards a classification of these syndromes as over-arching chronic pain as they might have similar etiology and clinical presentations. Thus, there is a need to evaluate chronic pain as a distinct, independent condition. There is also a deficit in research studies that compare primary chronic pain conditions to other kinds of chronic pain. The current study can have treatment implications as traumatic histories, alexithymia and quality of life are important domains for a holistic assessment and significantly determine the course of treatment.