Predicting Outcome of Chronic Back Pain Using Clinical Predictors of Psychopathology: A Prospective Analysis

Robert J. Gatchel, Peter B. Polatin, Regina K. Kinney

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study evaluated whether a comprehensive assessment of psychosocial measures is useful in characterizing those acute low back pain patients who subsequently develop chronic pain disability problems. A cohort of 324 patients was evaluated, with all patients being administered a standard battery of psychological assessment tests. A structured telephone interview was conducted 6 months after the psychological assessment to evaluate return-to-work status. Analyses, conducted to differentiate between those patients who were back at work at 6 months versus those who were not because of the original back injury, revealed the importance of 3 measures: self-reported pain and disability, the presence of a personality disorder, and scores on Scale 3 of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. These results demonstrate the presence of a psychosocial disability variable that is associated with those injured workers who are likely to develop chronic disability problems.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)415-420
Number of pages6
JournalHealth Psychology
Volume14
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1995

Keywords

  • DSM-III-R
  • chronic pain disability
  • low back pain
  • psychosocial assessment

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