Psychological Assessment and Management of Chronic Pain in Orthopaedic Patients at University College Hospital, Ibadan, South West Nigeria

Chronic pain is a complex biopsychosocial condition with significant psychological dimensions that are frequently underaddressed in Nigerian orthopaedic settings, where biomedical treatment models predominate and clinical psychologists are rarely integrated into pain management teams. This study examines the psychological assessment and management of chronic pain among orthopaedic patients at University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State. A mixed-methods clinical study is applied to 100 patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain attending orthopaedic outpatient clinic, recruited through consecutive sampling. The Brief Pain Inventory, the Pain Catastrophising Scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire are administered. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis identify the psychological predictors of pain interference. Qualitative interviews with 20 patients explore illness beliefs and psychological coping strategies. Available pain psychology literature from South West Nigeria identifies pain catastrophising and depression as the strongest psychological predictors of functional impairment in Nigerian orthopaedic patients, with low pain self-efficacy associated with treatment disengagement. The Biopsychosocial Model of Pain and the Fear-Avoidance Model provide the theoretical framework. Findings will support the UCH clinical psychology unit in developing an integrated psychological pain management pathway. Keywords: chronic pain, psychological assessment, orthopaedic patients, University College Hospital, South West Nigeria.