One- and two-item measures of pain beliefs and coping strategies

Pain-related beliefs and pain coping strategies are central components of current cognitive-behavioral models of chronic pain, and have been found in numerous studies to be associated significantly with psychosocial and physical disability. However, the length of most measures of pain-related beliefs and coping restricts the ability of clinicians and researchers to perform a thorough assessment of these variables in many situations. The availability of very brief versions of existing scales would make possible the assessment of a range of important pain beliefs and coping strategies in settings where subject or patient assessment burden is an issue. In this study, one- and two-item versions of the subscales of several commonly used measures of pain beliefs and coping strategies were developed using both rational and empirical procedures. The findings support the validity of these brief subscales. The appropriate use and limitations of these measures are discussed.     

Pain beliefs and the use of cognitive-behavioral coping strategies.

Patients' beliefs about chronic pain, such as how long it will last and whether it is a mysterious experience, have been shown to be related to compliance with treatment programs. The present study examined whether these pain beliefs related to a specific component of pain management, namely the frequency of use and the perceived effectiveness of cognitive and behavioral coping strategies. One hundred twenty chronic pain patients were administered the Pain Beliefs and Perceptions inventory (PBAPI) and the Coping Strategies questionnaire (CSQ). A cluster analysis of 2 pain beliefs (that pain is enduring and that pain is mysterious) was conducted revealing 3 distinct subgroups of patients based upon these 2 beliefs. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to detect whether the use of cognitive-behavioral pain coping strategies differed in patients in the 3 pain beliefs subgroups. The results indicated that patients belonging to the group characterized by the belief that pain was enduring and mysterious were less likely to use cognitive coping strategies (e.g., reinterpretation of pain sensation), more likely to catastrophize, and less likely to rate their coping strategies as effective in controlling and decreasing pain than patients believing their pain to be understandable and of short duration. The implications of these results for understanding the patient's choice of and compliance with treatment and coping efforts is discussed.     

Ethnic differences in pain coping: factor structure of the coping strategies questionnaire and coping strategies questionnaire-revised.

Coping has been examined extensively in the pain literature, although coping instruments have been typically validated in clinical populations with little ethnic diversity. This study examined the factor structure of the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ) and the CSQ-Revised (CSQ-R) in 650 healthy male and female African American (44%) and white (56%) subjects and explored associations of coping to health and pain-related measures. Factor analyses revealed 6 components for each ethnic group, accounting for comparable amounts of variance and resembling previously reported CSQ subscales. Internal consistency for both ethnic groups was acceptable (0.72-0.91). There were significant main effects for ethnicity on 4 of the CSQ-R scales (P < .05). No ethnic differences in pain or health variables emerged, although when split into high-pain versus minimal-pain groups, differences were revealed on catastrophizing. Results indicate that the factor structure of the CSQ-R in healthy adults is similar to clinical populations and is comparable across African American and white subjects. Group differences on CSQ-R scales suggest potentially important ethnic influences on pain coping. These findings support the use of the CSQ-R to assess coping in African Americans and in healthy young adults. Additional clinical research is needed to determine the practical importance of group differences in pain coping. PERSPECTIVE: Coping has been examined extensively in the pain literature, although coping instruments typically have been validated in clinical populations with little ethnic diversity. This study examines the factor structure of the CSQ-Revised in an ethnically diverse population and supports the use of the CSQ-R to assess coping in African Americans and in healthy young adults.     

Fear-avoidance beliefs and pain coping strategies in relation to lower back problems in a South African steel industry.

The objective was to determine the association between the prevalence of lower back problems (LBP), fear-avoidance beliefs and pain coping strategies using an analytical cross-sectional epidemiological study among a group of 366 workers in a South African stainless steel industry. Outcome (LBP) was defined using a questionnaire and a functional rating index. Exposure to psychosocial risk was determined using the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs (FABQ) and Coping Strategies (CSQ) questionnaires. Multivariate logistic regression analyses for LBP indicated the following significant risk factors: work-related fear-avoidance beliefs (OR 3.40; 95% CI 2.20-5.25), catastrophizing (1.31; 1.01-1.7) and pain coping self statements (1.47; 1.16-1.87). Significant protective associations were found for increased activity levels (OR 0.57; 95% CI 0.42-0.78). These findings have utility in preventative screening procedures to identify workers with such beliefs and coping strategies who are at risk for prolonged work restrictions.     

Pain coping strategies in a Dutch population of chronic low back pain patients

The use of strategies for coping with chronic pain was assessed by means of the Coping Strategy Questionnaire (CSQ) in a Dutch sample of 108 chronic low back pain (LBP) patients referred for behavioral treatment. The 3 factors of the CSQ were related to measurements of behavioral and emotional adjustment to LBP above and beyond the effects of demographic and medical status variables. Especially patients high on the factor Helplessness reported higher levels of pain, functional impairment, anxiety, depression and psychoneuroticism, while patients high on the factor Perceived Control reported lower levels of pain, functional impairment and also manifested a higher level of uptime. The causal role of coping strategies in adjustment to pain, the selectivity of focusing on LBP patients selected through referral and implications for pain management are discussed.     

Use of the chronic pain coping inventory to assess older adults' pain coping strategies.

Little is known about the strategies that older adults use to cope with persistent pain. The purpose of this study was to describe strategies used by older, retirement community-dwelling adults to cope with persistent, noncancer pain, as assessed by the Chronic Pain Coping Inventory (CPCI), to examine the associations of these strategies with disability and depression, and to compare the 65-item and 42-item versions of the CPCI in this population. Two hundred fifty residents of 43 retirement communities in the Pacific Northwest completed baseline measures for a randomized controlled trial of a pain self-management intervention, including the CPCI and measures of demographics, comorbidity, pain-related disability, and depression. The most frequently reported strategies, as assessed by the CPCI, were Task Persistence, Pacing, and Coping Self-Statements. The least frequently used strategies were Asking for Assistance and Relaxation. Regression analyses demonstrated that coping strategies explained 26%, 19%, and 18% additional variance in physical disability, depression, and pain-related interference, respectively, after controlling for age, gender, comorbidity, and pain intensity. Internal consistency for most CPCI-65 and CPCI-42 subscales was adequate. This study clarifies strategies used by older adults to cope with persistent pain and provides preliminary validation of the CPCI in this population. PERSPECTIVE: Findings from this study on pain coping strategies in older adults might suggest potentially useful coping strategies clinicians could explore with individual patients. Investigators can use study findings to design trials of interventions to help older adults cope more effectively with pain.     

Personality and pain-related beliefs/coping strategies: a prospective study

OBJECTIVES: The ways in which people adjust to chronic pain has been partly attributed to pre-existing personality traits, but most evidence to date is from cross-sectional studies and mainly with arthritis groups. The present study examined the effects of 5 personality dimensions on measures of pain-related beliefs and catastrophizing assessed 9 months apart with a heterogeneous chronic pain sample. METHOD: One hundred forty-five patients with chronic pain presenting to a hospital pain center completed the NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised, 3 measures of pain related beliefs, the catastrophizing scale of the Coping Strategy Questionnaire, and a 0 to 10 pain scale. Nine months from the initial assessment, patients completed the same measures, apart from the NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised. RESULTS: Of the 5 personality dimensions studied, only neuroticism was related to the pain-related variables. Multiple hierarchical regression analyses revealed that neuroticism was a significant predictor of residualized change in pain self-efficacy beliefs and pain control appraisals over the time of the study, after controlling for initial values of both constructs. However, the effects were small, suggesting that other factors play a role in the determination of such beliefs, in addition to neuroticism. In contrast, neuroticism was not a significant predictor of residualized change in catastrophizing responses over the same period. The findings provide partial support for the hypothesis that pre-existing personality traits place some patients at risk for poor adjustment to chronic pain.     

Individual differences and the effectiveness of different coping strategies for pain

The relationship between individual differences in self-statements and response to self-instruction (SI) and attention diversion (AD) coping strategies for acute pain was investigated. Previous research suggests that an individual's cognitive activity may be an important moderator variable in determining the effectiveness of different coping strategies. Sixty-eight female volunteers were given two cold pressor arm immersions. Subjects were asked to think aloud all thoughts occurring on both trials. On the basis of a median split of negative thinking emitted during the first or baseline trial, subjects were classified as either catastrophizers (CAT) or noncatastrophizers (NCAT). Subjects were randomly assigned to receive either SI or AD treatments or to a no-treatment control condition. Subjects were then given the second cold pressor trial. The results showed that NCAT subjects trained with AD improved their tolerance scores significantly more than those trained with SI. The opposite effect was found for CAT subjects. CAT subjects trained with SI showed greater improvement in tolerance scores than those trained with AD. Implications of these results as well as limitations and methodological features of this study are discussed.     

A classification system of cognitive coping strategies for pain

Cognitive strategies have received considerable interest in pain management, alongside the traditional approaches of physical intervention and behavior modification. However, the literature on these strategies is ridden with inconsistencies of terminology that present major difficulties in the conceptualization and evaluation of different strategies. A new classification scheme is hence proposed in which these strategies are grouped into 3 broad categories: imagery, self-statements and attention-diversion--which are further divided into a total of 10 subcategories. Examples are drawn from the literature to illustrate the use of each strategy. The new classification system offers a comprehensive nomenclature for the identification of cognitive coping strategies for pain and provides a basis for guiding research on the relative efficacy of different cognitive strategies in pain management.     

Chronic fatigue syndrome: a qualitative investigation of young patient's beliefs and coping strategies

Purpose.?The aim of this pilot study was to explore illness beliefs and coping strategies among adolescent patients with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME), applying a qualitative methodology. Recent studies have explored the illness beliefs and coping strategies of adult patients with CFS/ME as possible contributing factors to the disease aetiology. These studies have mainly used quantitative methods, finding that patients often explain their illness as being due to physical causes, deny psychological causes and make use of passive and avoidant coping strategies.

Method.?Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with nine adolescent patients with CFS/ME, thematic analysis was adapted to the material and the results were interpreted in light of theories of attribution and coping.

Results.?The qualitative method allowed for more complex and nuanced accounts of illness experience. The findings showed that the adolescents differ from what has previously been reported, applying more varied and flexible illness attributions and coping mechanisms than expected.

Conclusions.?The heterogeneity suggested in the results has implications. We suggest three perspectives should be taken into account, both for further research and in clinical practice: (1) individual differences; (2) a developmental perspective and (3) interactive relational focus.     

Chlorpropamide-induced hyponatremia in the veteran population.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence and possible risk factors associated with chlorpropamide (CPA)-induced hyponatremia in the veteran population. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Federal tertiary care medical center. PATIENTS: Veterans receiving CPA from our facility with at least one serum sodium concentration below 135 mmol/L within the past year were eligible. A randomly selected control group consisting of patients taking CPA with normal sodium concentrations was also chosen. One hundred forty-five of 799 patients who had received CPA were included in the study. RESULTS: The average daily dose of CPA was 425 +/- 207 mg (+/- SD). The incidence of hyponatremia associated with CPA was 7.1 percent (57/799 patients). The majority of patients were mildly hyponatremic (48/57 patients, 84 percent) with serum sodium concentrations between 130 and 134 mmol/L. The incidence of CPA-induced syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone was 2.1 percent. Concurrent angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor use was identified as a risk factor; thiazide diuretic use was not. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of hyponatremia related to CPA use in elderly veterans is consistent with other reports in the literature. ACE inhibitors may be a predisposing factor for CPA-induced hyponatremia.     

The utility of cognitive coping strategies for altering pain perception: a meta-analysis

The literature on the utility of cognitive coping strategies in pain control has been unclear because of 2 principal limitations: the lack of a validated classification system, and reliance on qualitative and quasi-statistical reviews. In this study, an empirically based multidimensional taxonomy was employed to categorize the variety of cognitive coping strategies into 6 major classes: external focus of attention, neutral imaginings, pleasant imaginings, dramatized coping, rhythmic cognitive activity and pain acknowledging. Meta-analytic techniques were introduced to evaluate the overall efficacy of cognitive strategies (in comparison to no-treatment controls), the relative efficacy of these strategies (how the different groups of strategies compare with one another), and the substantive efficacy of such strategies (how cognitive strategies fare against placebo/expectancy conditions). Results revealed that, in general, cognitive coping strategies are more effective in alleviating pain as compared to either no-treatment or expectancy controls. Each individual class of strategies significantly attenuates pain although the imagery methods are the most effective whereas pain acknowledging is the least effective. Positive expectancy is no better than no treatment. These findings stand in contrast with previous reviews that have not assigned prime importance to imagery or for that matter have not shown cognitive strategies to be particularly effective. Results are discussed with reference to attentional models and methodological issues.     

An evaluation of the measurement of pain catastrophizing by the coping strategies questionnaire.

Measurement and conceptual issues of pain catastrophizing have been raised in the literature. The issues of construct redundancy and measurement overlap have received particular attention, with suggestions that measures of pain catastrophizing are confounded with measures of negative mood, namely depression. The current study sought to investigate these issues in the coping strategies questionnaire-catastrophizing subscale (CSQ-CAT), a widely used measure of pain catastrophizing. Chronic pain patients (n=152) were recruited from the University of Florida pain clinics and completed a battery of psychological measures. Regression analyses indicated that measures of depression, anxiety, and anger accounted for 69% and 19% of the variance in measures of pain catastrophizing and pain, respectively. Trait anger and the cognitive and fearful dimensions of depression and anxiety were uniquely associated with pain catastrophizing. After controlling for measures of negative mood, pain catastrophizing contributed minimally to the prediction of pain. This study suggests that the CSQ-CAT is highly related to measures of negative mood and raises doubts about its measurement of the construct of pain catastrophizing. Results also provide support for theoretical accounts of the relationships between pain catastrophizing, negative mood, and pain. Clinical implications, future research directions, and alternative measures of pain catastrophizing are discussed.     

CE feature. Part 2. Nontechnologic strategies for coping with chronic low back pain

Nontechnologic interventions of relaxation, distraction, therapeutic touch, and spirituality can relieve chronic low back pain. Awareness of nontechnologic strategies by nurses is needed to facilitate patient-centered intervention.     

Analyzing chronic low back pain: the relative contribution of pain coping strategies

Sixty-two chronic low back pain patients were administered the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ) to assess the frequency of use and perceived effectiveness of a variety of cognitive and behavioral pain coping strategies. Analysis of individual variables revealed that CSQ factors, gender, physical examination findings, and chronicity of pain had significant effects on one or more of a series of pain, psychological distress or behavioral measures. To assess the relative contribution of each of these variables hierarchical stepwise regression analyses were carried out. These analyses revealed that the Helplessness factor of the CSQ explained 50% of the variance in psychological distress (Global Severity Index of the SCL-90R), and 46% of the variance in depression (Beck Depression Inventory). Patients scoring high on this CSQ factor had significantly higher levels of psychological distress. None of the demographic or medical status variables explained a significant proportion of variance in the psychological distress measures. The Diverting Attention and Praying factor of the CSQ explained a moderate (9%), but significant amount of variance in pain report. Patients scoring high on this factor had higher scores on the McGill Pain Questionnaire. Coping strategies were not strongly related to pain behavior measures such as guarding or uptime. A consideration of pain coping strategies may allow one to design pain coping skills training interventions so as to fit the needs of the individual low back pain patient.     

Survival following lower-limb amputation in a veteran population.

GOAL: We sought to describe the common demographic and comorbid conditions that affect survival following nontraumatic amputation. METHODS: Veterans Administration hospital discharge records for 1992 were linked with death records. The most proximal level during the first hospitalization in 1992 was used for analysis. Demographic information (age, race) and comorbid diagnosis (cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and renal disease) were used for Kaplan-Meier curves to describe survival following amputation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Death. RESULTS: Mortality risk increased with advanced age, more proximal amputation level, and renal and cardiovascular disease, and decreased for African Americans. No increased risk for persons with diabetes was noted in the first year following amputation but the risk increased thereafter. A higher risk of mortality in the first year was noted for renal disease, cardiovascular disease, and proximal amputation level. CONCLUSION: Survival following lower-limb amputation is impaired by advancing age, cardiovascular and renal disease, and proximal amputation level. Also, a small survival advantage is seen for African Americans and those with diabetes.     

Development of a questionnaire for the assessment of active and passive coping strategies in chronic pain patients

This study describes the development of a self-report questionnaire, the Vanderbilt Pain Management Inventory, which assesses the frequency with which chronic pain patients use active or passive coping strategies when their pain reaches a moderate or greater level of intensity. Two internally reliable scales, Active Coping and Passive Coping, were derived using factor analytic techniques from a sample of 361 rheumatoid arthritis patients. The 2 scales showed an opposite pattern of relationships with criterion measures. While Active Coping was associated with reports of less pain, less depression, less functional impairment, and higher general self-efficacy, Passive Coping was correlated with reports of greater depression, greater pain and flare-up activity, greater functional impairment, and lower general self-efficacy. The relationship of these scales to previous theory and research on coping is presented. These scales appear useful for the assessment of coping strategies in clinical settings and in treatment outcome research on chronic pain.     

Physician attitudes and beliefs about use of morphine for cancer pain

The recent literature asserts that mistaken physician beliefs and attitudes are critical barriers to adequate cancer pain relief. To determine the prevalence of 12 proposed myths or misconceptions about morphine use in cancer pain management (CPM), we surveyed all physicians engaged in direct patient care in Duluth, Minnesota (N = 243). A 62% response was obtained. Many physicians misunderstood concepts of morphine tolerance, both to analgesia (51%) and to side effects (39%). Many were unaware of the use of adjuvant analgesics (29%), efficacy of oral morphine (27%), and nonexistent risk of addiction in CPM (20%). Analysis of result by physician age and specialy groups confirmed significant levels of misunderstanding in all subsets. Strategies to change physician attitudes and beliefs regarding morphine in CPM should focus on tolerance concepts, dosing schemes, safety, efficacy, lack of addictive risk, use of drug combinations, and the fact that cancer pain can be relieved.     

A closer look at pain and hepatitis C: preliminary data from a veteran population

An association between the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and various pain diagnoses, including arthritis, fibromyalgia, and peripheral neuropathy, has been reported. In this article, we review the literature on the relationship between HCV and pain, highlighting current knowledge as well as methodological issues that exist in many studies. We also present preliminary findings from a survey conducted at two Department of Veterans Affairs facilities to assess the scope and impact of pain on functioning in veterans with HCV. Our results indicate that pain is very prevalent within this population and that HCV-positive veterans who experience persistent pain have significant depressive symptoms and engage in high-risk behaviors, such as cigarette smoking and alcohol use. Finally, we draw upon our review and preliminary results to propose areas of future rehabilitative research and to address the implications for clinicians working with patients with comorbid HCV and pain.