Pain catastrophizing: a dimensional concept analysis

Title.  Pain catastrophizing: a dimensional concept analysis.
Aim.  This paper is a report of a concept analysis of pain catastrophizing.
Background.  The importance of pain catastrophizing in the experience of pain and development of chronic pain has been demonstrated. It has been described as a tendency to have a fixation about pain and to feel unable to deal with pain.
Data sources.  Fifty-one papers containing the keyword 'pain catastrophizing' were selected from the Medline, Embase and Psycinfo indexes between 1996 and 2008. Dimensional analysis methodology was used to make explicit the ways in which the concept is constructed and used. The themes of this approach seem to contribute to the understanding of both nurse and client perspectives.
Results.  The literature on 'pain catastrophizing' seems to reach a level of middle-range explanatory theory. The focus is on specifying relationships between pain catastrophizing and two or more concepts, and on validating the theoretical hypotheses of 'communal coping' as opposed to 'hypervigilance'. The predominance of correlational and cross-sectional studies testifies to this. The concept's definition includes the curative and preventive approaches. However, only the professional perspective seems to be reflected in the concept's terminology.
Conclusion.  Nursing theories and qualitative research seem to be avenues for the comprehension of the phenomenon and the broadening of perspectives. They may bring not only a new but also a unique perspective. Nevertheless, the current state of knowledge on pain catastrophizing is important to nurses as they could influence greatly the timing of interventions and prevention of chronic pain.