Factors of the language of pain in patient and volunteer groups

Abstract

An empirical determination of the nature and minimum number of dimensions necessary to describe responses to the McGill Pain Questionnaire [MGPQ], and a comparison of groups, experiencing clinical or experimentally induced pain, on the dimensions were carried out. Patients (85) referred to a low back pain diagnostic clinic and groups of 129 volunteer students exposed to electric shock to pain threshold and pain tolerance levels described their pain using the MGPQ descriptive words. An incomplete principle component factor analysis of subjects'' ratings suggested that 5 factors should be retained. These factors were judged to reflect: immediate anxiety, perception of harm, somesthetic pressure, cutaneous sensitivity and sensory information. Canonical analysis of variance and univariate comparisons of back pain, threshold and tolerance groups on these dimensions were conducted and implications for clinical and laboratory research discussed.