Role of pain catastrophizing during pain processing in a cohort of patients with chronic and severe arthritic knee pain

Abstract

We examined the relationship between catastrophizing and a 3-stage model of pain processing, consisting of pain sensation intensity (stage 1), pain unpleasantness (stage 2), and suffering (stage 3). We studied 310 patients with chronic and severe osteoarthritic knee pain (68.7% female) using 4 competing structural equation models. A strong relationship was found between the suffering construct and its indicators. Of the 4 theoretically plausible models, we found a model with 3 specific pathways of pain sensation leading to the final stage of pain-related suffering. A unique contribution of this study is the integration of catastrophizing into the 3 pain stages. In this model, catastrophizing mediates the relationship between pain-related unpleasantness and suffering, as well as the relationship between sensation and suffering through unpleasantness. Psychological intervention targeting catastrophizing could provide reduction of pain-related suffering that adds to the benefits of therapies directed toward the primary sensory and immediate unpleasant dimensions of pain. These results emphasize the benefit of integrating knowledge of the psychological and neural mechanisms of pain.Catastrophizing makes a unique contribution to suffering apart from the contribution of immediate unpleasantness. The study results emphasize the benefit of integrating knowledge of the psychological and neural mechanisms of pain, and the importance of psychological intervention targeting catastrophizing to reduce pain-related suffering.