Assessment of Quality of Life Among Patients Experiencing Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study at King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design and Setting
2.2. Participants
2.3. Data Collection Tool
- Demographics: age, sex, marital status, education, and occupation.
- Chronic Diseases: presence of comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases.
- Pain History: anatomical pain site(s) and frequency.
- QoL Assessment: the RAND 36-Item Health Survey 1.0 [19].
- Pain Management: treatment modalities, interventional therapies, and nonpharmacological therapies.
2.4. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Participant Characteristics
3.2. Pain Characteristics
3.3. Quality of Life Assessment
3.4. Factors Associated with QoL Domains
- Educational level: Individuals with lower educational levels reported significantly worse pain (p = 0.001).
- Social status: Single participants had significantly higher pain severity (p = 0.022) and poorer general health (p = 0.029) than married or widowed participants.
- Nationality: Non-Saudi participants reported significantly worse physical functioning (p = 0.011) and higher pain severity (p = 0.036).
- Clinic type: Pain severity differed significantly (p = 0.011) across different clinical groups, with orthopedic clinic attendees reporting the highest levels.
- Lower education = Worse pain
- Single marital status = Poorer general health
- Non-Saudi nationality = Worse physical functioning and pain
- Patients attending orthopedic clinics = Highest pain scores
Energy/Fatigue | p Value | Emotional Well-Being | p Value | Social Functioning | p Value | Pain | p Value | General Health | p Value | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Severe | Moderate | Severe | Moderate | Severe | Moderate | Severe | Moderate | Severe | Moderate | |||||||
Gender | Male | 66 (60) | 44 (40) | 1 | 90 (81.8) | 20 (18.2) | 0.555 | 100 (90.9) | 10 (9.1) | 0.297 | 62 (56.4) | 48 (43.6) | 0.217 | 28 (25.5) | 82 (74.5) | 0.219 |
Female | 84 (60) | 56 (40) | 120 (85.7) | 20 (14.3) | 118 (84.3) | 22 (15.7) | 94 (67.1) | 46 (32.9) | 50 (35.7) | 90 (644.3) | ||||||
Nationality | Saudi | 130 (59.1) | 90 (40.9) | 0.57 | 190 (86.4) | 30 (13.6) | 0.07 | 188 (85.5) | 32 (114.5) | 0.214 | 144 (65.5) | 76 (34.5) | 0.05 * | 7 0 (31.8) | 150 (68.2) | 0.775 |
Non-Saudi | 20 (66.7) | 10 (33.3) | 20 (66.7) | 10 (33.3) | 30 (100) | 0 | 12 (40) | 18 (60) | 8 (26.7) | 22 (73.3) | ||||||
Educational level | High school or less | 68 (47.2) | 76 (52.8) | 0.002 & | 114 (79.2) | 30 (20.8) | 0.167 | 132 (91.7) | 12 (8.3) | 0.191 | 110 (76.4) | 34 (23.6) | 0.001 & | 54 (37.5) | 90 (62.5) | 0.251 |
Bachelor’s/ Diploma | 66 (75) | 22 (25) | 78 (88.6) | 10 (11.4) | 70 (79.5) | 18 (20.5) | 38 (43.2) | 50 (56.8) | 18 (20.5) | 70 (79.5) | ||||||
Master’s degree | 6 (75) | 2 (25) | 8 (100) | 0 | 8 (100) | 0 | 2 (25) | 6 (75) | 2 (25) | 6 (75) | ||||||
PhD | 10 (100) | 0 | 10 (100) | 0 | 8 (80) | 2 (20) | 6 (60) | 4 (40) | 4 (40) | 6 (60) | ||||||
Working | Yes | 56 (71.8) | 2 2 (28.2) | 0.07 | 72 (92.3) | 6 (7.7) | 0.064 | 70 (89.7) | 8 (10.3) | 0.428 | 42 (53.8) | 136 (46.2) | 0.358 | 16 (20.5) | 62 (79.5) | 0.098 |
No | 76 (54.3) | 64 (45.7) | 110 (78.6) | 30 (21.4) | 118 (84.3) | 22 (15.7) | 88 (62.9) | 52 (37.1) | 50 (35.7) | 90 (64.3) | ||||||
Social status | Single | 30 (78.9) | 8 (21.1) | 0.16 | 30 (85.6) | 8 (21.1) | 0.746 | 34 (89.5) | 4 (10.5) | 0.751 | 16 (42.1) | 22 (57.9) | 0.02 * | 4 (10.5) | 34 (89.5) | 0.029 & |
Married | 104 (57.8) | 76 (42.2) | 154 (73.3) | 26 (14.4) | 158 (87.8) | 22 (12.2) | 112 (62.2) | 68 (37.8) | 58 (32.2) | 122 (67.8) | ||||||
Widower | 16 (50) | 16 (50) | 26 (81,3) | 6 (18.8) | 26 (81.2) | 6 (18.8) | 28 (87.5) | 4 (12.5) | 16 (50) | 16 (50) | ||||||
Clinic | FM | 64 (62.7) | 38 (37.3) | 0.31 | 94 (92.2) | 8 (7.8) | 0.098 | 88 (86.3) | 14 (13.7) | 0.827 | 50 (49) | 52 (51) | 0.01 * | 26 (25.5) | 76 (74.5) | 0.073 |
Pain clinic | 42 (67.7) | 20 (32.3) | 48 (77.4) | 14 (22.6) | 56 (90.3) | 6 (9.7) | 38 (61.3) | 24 (38.7) | 14 (22.6) | 48 (77.4) | ||||||
Orthopedic Clinic | 22 (51.2) | 42 (48.8) | 68 (79.1) | 18 (20.9) | 74 (86) | 12 (14) | 68 (79.1) | 18 (20.9) | 3 8 (44.2) | 48 (55.8) |
4. Discussion
5. Study Limitations
6. Conclusions
7. Recommendations
- Healthcare Policy: Expansion of access to specialized pain management services, especially for disadvantaged groups.
- Clinical Practice: Implementation of multidisciplinary teams integrating physical, psychological, and social interventions.
- Future Research: Conducting large-scale, multicenter longitudinal studies to better understand the CP trajectory and management outcomes.
- Public Awareness: Improvement of patient and provider education regarding CP to reduce stigma and improve early intervention.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
CP | Chronic pain |
QoL | Quality of life |
KAMC | King Abdullah Medical City |
SD | Standard deviation |
IQR | Interquartile range |
References
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Variable | Category | n | % |
---|---|---|---|
Sex | Male | 110 | 44.0 |
Female | 140 | 56.0 | |
Age | More than 18 years | 236 | 94.4 |
Less than 18 years | 14 | 5.6 | |
Nationality | Saudi | 220 | 88.0 |
Non-Saudi | 30 | 12.0 | |
Educational level | High school or less | 144 | 57.6 |
Bachelor’s degree/Diploma | 88 | 35.2 | |
Master’s degree | 8 | 3.2 | |
Doctorate | 10 | 4.0 | |
Marital status | Single | 38 | 15.2 |
Married | 180 | 72.0 | |
Widowed | 32 | 12.8 | |
Occupational status | Employed | 90 | 35.8 |
Unemployed | 160 | 64.2 | |
Chronic Diseases | None | 90 | 36.0 |
Heart and vascular diseases | 48 | 19.2 | |
Diabetes mellitus | 54 | 21.6 | |
Hypertension | 28 | 11.2 | |
Endocrine diseases | 20 | 8.0 | |
Kidney disease | 6 | 2.4 | |
Respiratory diseases | 4 | 1.6 |
Pain Location | n | % |
---|---|---|
Knees | 84 | 33.6 |
Shoulders | 26 | 10.4 |
Back | 56 | 22.4 |
Feet | 32 | 12.8 |
Hips | 10 | 4.0 |
Neck | 14 | 5.6 |
Pelvis | 8 | 3.2 |
Hands | 8 | 3.2 |
Head | 12 | 4.8 |
Domain | Number of Items | Mean | SD | Minimum | Maximum |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Physical functioning | 9 | 18.5 | 15.7 | 0 | 50 |
Role limitations due to physical health | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Energy/fatigue | 4 | 50.4 | 20.3 | 0 | 100 |
Emotional well-being | 5 | 38.4 | 16.9 | 0 | 90 |
Social functioning | 2 | 38.8 | 18.4 | 0 | 100 |
Pain | 2 | 46.6 | 24.6 | 0 | 100 |
General health | 5 | 58.96 | 15.7 | 15 | 95 |
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Alshareef, M.; AlJohari, K.; Alotaibi, T.; Alfahmi, A.; Bazarra, A.; Malibary, S.; Alsharif, B.H.; Shatla, M. Assessment of Quality of Life Among Patients Experiencing Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study at King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2025, 22, 1191. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22081191
Alshareef M, AlJohari K, Alotaibi T, Alfahmi A, Bazarra A, Malibary S, Alsharif BH, Shatla M. Assessment of Quality of Life Among Patients Experiencing Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study at King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2025; 22(8):1191. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22081191
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlshareef, Maram, Khadija AlJohari, Turki Alotaibi, Asim Alfahmi, Ahmad Bazarra, Somayah Malibary, Bayan Hashim Alsharif, and Mokhtar Shatla. 2025. "Assessment of Quality of Life Among Patients Experiencing Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study at King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 22, no. 8: 1191. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22081191
APA StyleAlshareef, M., AlJohari, K., Alotaibi, T., Alfahmi, A., Bazarra, A., Malibary, S., Alsharif, B. H., & Shatla, M. (2025). Assessment of Quality of Life Among Patients Experiencing Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study at King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(8), 1191. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22081191