This study addresses the problem of assessment of chronic pain patients, a population with special needs which have only begun to be recognized by the medical community. While this paper promotes a comprehensive approach to assessment and treatment of chronic pain patients, the research questions in this study specifically address assessment of personality and its relationship to other biopsychosocial variables.The purpose of the study was to replicate cluster analyses done with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) in chronic pain patient populations using the revised and re-nonmed Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), and. secondly, to identify other variables which are associated with particular personality profile patterns in chronic pain patients.This study examines the archival records of approximately 300 male and female, chronic pain patients who were seen at a hospital-based, multidisciplinary, outpatient pain management clinic from 1989 to 1992. Information analyzed includes The (MMPI), and the Patient Assessment Inventory and Narrative (PAIN), an instrument used at the pain clinic, designed to collect demographic, social, and vocational information, medical history, and cognitive, emotional, and sensory-perceptual characteristics of the patient's pain experience.The data from the MM PI-2 scales was cluster analyzed, yielding three homogeneous profile subgroups for both male and female samples, as well as the full sample. These groups corresponded closely to those found in earlier MMPI research with chronic pain patients. A discriminant analysis was used to examine which combinations of other biopsychosocial variables best explained the differences between each of the groups of patients derived in the cluster analysis. Results indicate that a combination of "negative life-impact" variables most significantly distinguished between the derived groups. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) using Tukey's HSD procedure revealed how each group differed-on the "negative life-impact" spectrum, with more elevated MMPI-2 profiles showing greater negative life-impact and less elevated profiles showing less negative life-impact. Implications and limitations of the study, as well as recommendations for future research are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/179108 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | Nickel, James Allen |
| Contributors | Duckworth, Jane C. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | ix, 131 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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