title: Medically unexplained chronic musculoskeletal pain and psychiatric morbidity in an Indian sample.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The psychiatric aspects of 30 patients suffering from chronic musculoskeletal pain in a Government hospital in Mumbai, India were investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-three relatives matched for age and sex formed a control group. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID-I) was used to determine the nature of the psychiatric morbidity. The role of stressful fife events was examined using the Presumptive Stressful Life Events Scale (PSLES).
  
  
  RESULTS
  More than half the patients satisfied the criteria for a depressive disorder. The patients experienced a higher number of stressful life events than the control group. The patients were further categorized as 'depressed' or 'non-depressed', and their pain estimates compared by using the Smith's submaximum tourniquet technique. The depressed patients had experienced a higher number of stressful life events and higher pain estimates than the non-depressed patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results are discussed in relation to mental illness, life events and the experience of chronic pain.
authors.affiliation: TN Medical College, BYL Nair Hospital, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nadkarni
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dhavale
keywords: India; chronic; musculoskeletal; pain; psychiatry