Types of pain coping in chronic pain patients

Abstract

The characterization of subtypes of chronic pain patients based on their pain coping profiles may contribute to abetter understanding of the pain syndrome, to more specific indications of established treatment options as well as to further development of therapeutic interventions. The aim of this study was to examine whether different subgroups of chronic pain patients emerge when using the German pain coping questionnaire (FESV) to identify homogeneous subgroups of pain coping patterns. Furthermore, the aim was to examine whether these pain coping subgroups differ in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, as well as pain and treatment-related aspects. A total of 166 inpatients with achronic pain disorder according to ICD-10 F45.41 were examined as part of the routine assessment within an interdisciplinary pain treatment program. Cognitive and behavioral pain coping and pain-related psychological impairment were measured with the FESV as components of pain coping. Using cluster analyses, homogeneous patient subgroups were generated on the basis of pain coping data. The resulting subgroups were subsequently compared regarding sociodemographic characteristics, pain-related impairment, global psychological distress, depression, anxiety, perceived stress, utilization of social support and motivation for psychotherapy. The results revealed three distinct subgroups regarding pain coping patterns: (1)high impairment and high coping, (2)low impairment and high coping and (3)high impairment and low coping. The subgroups differed significantly in almost all characteristics, except for pain duration and pain intensity. The categorization into the abovementioned pain coping subtypes may assist clinicians in tailoring pain treatment to the needs and characteristics of the individual patients.