Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Mar 19, 2025; 15(3): 103250
Published online Mar 19, 2025. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i3.103250
Impact of depression, anxiety, inflammatory factors, and stress levels on treatment outcomes in patients with chronic trauma
Wei Zhao, Wei-Guan Chen, Long-Yao Zhang, Zhi-Ming Cui, Xue-Jian Wang
Wei Zhao, Long-Yao Zhang, Xue-Jian Wang, Department of Neurosurgery, Affiliated Hospital 2 of Nantong University, Nantong 226000, Jiangsu Province, China
Wei-Guan Chen, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Affiliated Hospital 2 of Nantong University, Nantong 226000, Jiangsu Province, China
Zhi-Ming Cui, Department of Orthopedics, Affiliated Hospital 2 to Nantong University, Nantong 226001, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-first authors: Wei Zhao and Wei-Guan Chen.
Co-corresponding authors: Zhi-Ming Cui and Xue-Jian Wang.
Author contributions: Wang XJ wrote the article; Zhao W and Zhang LY sorted out the data and summarized the literature; Chen WG revised the article; Cui ZM reviewed the manuscript. Zhao W and Chen WG did the work related to data sorting and document preparation and contributed equally to this manuscript as co-first authors; Cui ZM and Wang XJ wrote and organized the manuscript and eventually published it and contributed equally to this manuscript as co-corresponding authors.
Supported by Research Project of Nantong Health and Health Commission, No. MS2023041 and No. MA2021017; Science and Technology Program of Nantong City, No. Key03 and No. JCZ2022040; Kangda College of Nanjing Medical University, No. KD2021JYYJYB025, No. KD2022KYJJZD019, and No. KD2022KYJJZD022; and Nantong Young Medical Expert, No. 46.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xue-Jian Wang, MD, PhD, Department of Neurosurgery, Affiliated Hospital 2 of Nantong University, No. 666 Shengli Road, Chongchuan District, Nantong 226000, Jiangsu Province, China. 6841441@163.com
Received: November 13, 2024
Revised: December 15, 2024
Accepted: January 13, 2025
Published online: March 19, 2025
Processing time: 105 Days and 5.6 Hours
Abstract

This editorial discusses a recent article published by Li et al in 2024, which highlights a critical yet underexplored dimension of chronic wound care: The impact of psychological factors such as depression and anxiety on treatment outcomes. With the increasing prevalence of chronic wounds in China, driven by population aging, traffic accidents, and chronic diseases, chronic wounds have emerged as a significant public health concern. They not only pose serious threats to individual health but also impose considerable social and economic burdens on healthcare systems. Against this backdrop, the study by Li et al aimed to explore how psychological distress affects the management and recovery of patients with chronic wounds. In their research, chronic wound patients were meticulously evaluated for depression and anxiety using validated psychological assessment scales and blood biomarkers. The findings reveal a stark reality: Individuals with severe depression and anxiety exhibit markedly lower treatment adherence, slower recovery rates, and diminished post-treatment quality of life. These psychological challenges hinder patients’ active engagement with their care plans and may directly impede physiological healing processes. Importantly, the study underscored that factors such as wound size, anxiety, and depression significantly influence therapeutic outcomes in chronic wound patients. This insight calls for a more holistic approach to wound care, where addressing psychological well-being becomes an integral component of treatment protocols. As such, the study highlighted the necessity of early identification and targeted intervention for depression and anxiety in chronic wound patients. By prioritizing psychological support alongside medical treatment, healthcare providers can enhance therapeutic efficacy and improve patients’ long-term quality of life. This integrative approach can not only optimize clinical outcomes but also alleviate the broader societal and economic impact of chronic wounds.

Keywords: Chronic trauma; Depression; Anxiety; Therapeutic outcomes; Editorial

Core Tip: With the development of technology and society, the incidence of chronic wounds is on the rise. At present, chronic wounds have become a common clinical problem that affects health and causes economic burden. What patients with chronic trauma experience is not only physical pain, but also psychological problems such as depression and anxiety, as well as changes in inflammatory factors and stress levels in peripheral blood. These factors are intertwined and jointly affect the whole process of treatment. Nowadays, with the continuous progress in the medical field, our treatment and care for chronic trauma patients should not only be limited to the repair of physical injury, but also should deeply explore the impact of their comprehensive psychological and physiological conditions on the treatment results.