Personality Factors Related to the Outcome of Treatment with Transcutaneous Nerve Stimulation

Abstract

Personality factors are known to influence the augmenting/reducing tendency in evoked potentials and also the results obtained from pain-relieving methods in chronic pain conditions. In this study 30 chronic pain patients treated with high frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation were evaluated by means of personality inventories and visual evoked potentials (VEP). The results indicate that the group for whom the treatment had a positive outcome had an augmenting tendency in VEP and also significantly differed as regards certain factors in the EPI (high values in the L scale) and the CMPS (high values in factors I, II, IX, X and index I, V) personality inventories.

Can We “Predict” Long‐Term Outcome for Ambulatory Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation in Patients with Chronic Pain?

“…Studies aimed at identifying predictive factors, or subgroups of patients who benefit most from TENS treatment, are rarely conducted, despite recognition of their importance . We identified 6 studies examining factors associated with short‐term outcome following TENS treatment. Pain‐related variables such as intractable pain, intermittent pain, and multisited pain seem to predict TENS a positive outcome at short term .…”

“…However, a diagnosis of neuropathic pain has been reported to predict both favorable and unfavorable outcomes . Psychosocial factors such as personality disorders, mental illness (depressive state, distress and anxiety), social isolation, and analgesic abuse have also been associated with short‐term outcome of TENS. However, lack of consistency regarding the chosen outcomes and predictors studied means that no firm conclusions can be drawn.…”