Abstract
One hundred patients, referred for the management of intractable pain, completed a 52-item Illness Behaviour Questionnaire (IBQ). Responses were scored on 7 scales: general hypochondriasis, disease conviction, psychological versus somatic perception of illness, affective inhibition, affective disturbance, denial, and irritability. IBQ scale profiles were subjected to numerical analysis and 6 taxonomic clusters were identified. Patients in groups 1–3 were characterized by a relatively non-neurotic, reality-oriented attitude to illness, as indicated by low scores on the first three scales. Patients in groups 4–6 manifested greater evidence of ‘abnormal illness behaviour’, and presented syndromes resembling ‘hysteria’, ‘conversion reaction’, and ‘hypochondriasis’ respectively.
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