title: The differential mediating effects of pain and depression on the physical and mental dimension of quality of life in Hong Kong Chinese adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The impact of pain and depression on health-related quality of life (QoL) is widely investigated, yet the pain-depression interactions on QoL remain unclear. This study aims to examine the pain-depression-QoL mediation link.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pain severity were assessed in a sample of Chinese professional teachers (n = 385). The subjects were also assessed on depressive symptoms and QoL. Regression models were fitted to evaluate the pain-depression-QoL relationships.
  
  
  RESULTS
  About 44% of the sample had 3-5 painful areas in the past 3 months. Shoulder pain (60%) and headache (53%) were common painful areas. The results of regression analyses showed that pain mediated the effects of depression on the mental aspect of QoL (standardized beta = -0.111; Sobel test: z = -3.124, p < 0.005) whereas depression mediated the effects of pain on the physical aspect of QoL (standardized beta = -0.026; Sobel test: z = -4.045, p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study offered tentative evidence that pain and depression impacted differently on the mental and physical aspect of QoL. As these findings were based on a Chinese teacher sample, future studies should employ more representative samples across cultures to verify the present data.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Social Studies, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. wswong@cityu.edu.hk
authors.forename: Wing S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Simon T M
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Vivian B K
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: Fung
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fielding
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003863:Depression / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires