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For many people living with chronic conditions like systemic sclerosis, pain can be persistent, unpredictable and difficult to manage. This can affect mood, worry, sleep, motivation and confidence in completing daily activities.

Daniel Whibley, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at University of Michigan Health, examined how pain intensity, physical function and psychosocial factors are related in adults living with systemic sclerosis.

Using data collected as part of a larger treatment study led by Susan Murphy, Sc.D., O.T.R., a Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Rheumatology at U-M Health, and her team at the Telehealth and Rehabilitation Advancing Chronic Condition Research Center at U-M, Whibley and colleagues examined relationships between pain intensity, physical function and psychosocial factors including anxiety, negative affect, resilience, depression and self-efficacy at a single point in time.

In the research published in Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders, the team found that higher pain intensity was associated with poorer physical function.

Importantly, anxiety and negative effects appeared to strengthen that relationship. Among people with higher levels of anxiety or negative effects, pain had a stronger association with limitations in physical function.

"Pain, psychological factors and physical function were closely linked in our study," said Whibley.

"Specifically, higher pain intensity was associated with poorer physical function, and that association was stronger among people reporting higher levels of anxiety or negative effects."

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