Principles & Practice of Pain Medicine > Part II. Pain: General Principles and Evaluation > Chapter 7. Outcome Measurements in Pain Medicine Harriët Wittink, Leonidas C. Goudas, Scott Strassels, and Daniel B. Carr

Instruments Measuring Mental Health and Cognitions

"Many patients with chronic pain learn to function normally despite their pain, continue to work productively, and rarely seek medical care. Factors such as coping ability,^85–87 fear avoidance,^49,88 self efficacy^89,90 and catastrophizing^90–92 have been associated with adjustment differences in patients with chronic pain. The beliefs or cognitions that patients have regarding their pain problem are hypothesized to have a direct impact on mood. For instance, negative thoughts about pain are strongly related to depressive symptomatology.⁹³ Depression has been associated with high health care utilization and costs⁹⁴ and is prevalent in patients with chronic pain. Patients with chronic pain may develop a variety of psychological problems, including depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, and disruptions in family life. Because of the importance of psychological factors in the experience of chronic pain, adding an assessment of mental health and cognitive factors to generic and condition-specific HRQOL may help patients and health care providers work together more effectively toward their common goals of pain relief and improved functioning. Some commonly used mental health assessment tools are listed in Table 7-5.Questionnaires that address cognitive factors include the widely used CSQ and the Pain Beliefs and Perceptions Inventory (PBPI). The CSQ was designed to help identify methods of coping used by persons with chronic low back pain.¹⁰¹ It contains six..."