Relationship of patient semantic pain descriptions to physician diagnostic judgements, activity level measures and NMPI

Abstract

A set of 25 bi-polar adjectives was developed from medical records of previous pain patients'' descriptions of their pain. Using the Semantic Differential (S-D) method, patients rated the extent to which his/her pain was best described by either of the adjective pairs. The S-D findings were compared with 3 other data sets and those data sets were compared with each other. Six physicians classified each patient along an organic-non-organic continuum based on ratings derived from the full set of medical diagnostic labels each patient had accrued. Patients, prior to examination, completed up to 2 wk of diary forms at home on which were recorded amount and distribution of time among sitting, standing/walking and reclining. Patients completed a Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Few and only marginally significant relationships between patient semantic descriptions of their pain and the other measures were found. Physician agreement to the organic-non-organic criterion was statistically significant but clinically modest. Patients who walked more were less depressed, had fewer diffuse somatic complaints and described themselves as less frustrated or angry and as less hypersensitive in interpersonal situations.