Coping strategies predict disability in patients with primary fibromyalgia

Abstract

We administered the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ) to 80 patients with fibromyalgia (FM) to determine the relationship between coping strategies and functional disability. A principal components factor analysis revealed two dimensions of patients' CSQ responses: Coping Attempts and Catastrophizing. Coping Attempts consists of five scales: Reinterpreting Pain, Ignoring Pain Sensations, Diverting Attention, Coping Self-Statements and Increasing Activity Level. Catastrophizing is comprised solely of the CSQ Catastrophizing scale. Both coping strategy dimensions were significantly related to patients' disability scores on the Sickness Impact Profile even after controlling for demographic and clinical variables as well as neuroticism. Coping Attempts was associated with higher levels of Physical (P < 0.05) and Total Disability (P < 0.01), and lower levels of Psychosocial Disability (P < 0.05). Catastrophizing was associated with higher levels of Total Disability (P < 0.01). These relationships suggest that investigators should attempt to identify Coping Attempts strategies that best reduce patients' psychological distress in the laboratory. It then may be possible to teach patients to use these strategies to reduce distress in their home and work environments.

Sexual and physical abuse in women with fibromyalgia: Association with outpatient health care utilization and pain medication usage

“…We assessed thresholds for the perception of "moderate pressure" and for "faint pain" produced by the dolorimeter at 5 paired (left, right) tender points (TP) and 5 paired control points (CP) using a procedure that is standard in our laboratory (15,17,23,40,48,49). The TPs, which are a subset of those included in the ACR classification criteria for FM, include: 1) knee at the medial fat pad; 2) second rib at the second costochondral junction; 3) gluteal muscle at the upper quadrant of the buttocks; 4) trapezius muscle at the midpoint of the upper border; and 5) cervical region at the anterior aspect of the intertransverse spaces at (25x7.…”

“…The dolorimeter was then withdrawn and the stimulus intensity that evoked the subject's response was recorded. After the moderate pressure threshold procedure was completed, the research assistant performed an identical procedure, previously described by our group (15,17,23,40,48,49), to assess pain threshold (i.e., initial perception of "faint pain" with dolorimeter stimulation) at each TP and 8.…”

Cross-cultural adaptation, reliability, and validity of the German version of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale

“…Catastrophizing is defined as a maladaptive response to pain and is characterized by an experience of heightened pain intensity and difficulty in disengaging from pain (6); it is an important predictor of pain severity, and of how people cope with pain (7)(8)(9), and appears to predict future disability better than do other variables (6). Some studies have indicated that pain catastrophizing predicts depression or even mediates the reduction in depression, the perception of pain and the behaviour in response to cognitive-behavioral or graded-exercise therapy (10)(11)(12).…”

Influence of Psychological Factors on Pain and Disability in Anterior Knee Pain Patients

“…There is growing evidence that the catastrophic vision of pain is related not only to the pain the patients mention but also to other aspects that influence the course of the illness. Some studies show that patients with musculoskeletal pain with these ideas have a higher degree of disability, 78 higher use of health resources, 100 higher use of medication, 7,48 and worse recovery after knee arthroplasty surgery. 60 Many studies confirm a strong association between the ideas of pain catastrophization and the patient's disability in several conditions with chronic pain mainly in musculoskeletal pain.…”