Factors Associated With Pain Catastrophizing in Patients With Chronic Neuropathic Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background

Pain catastrophizing is a significant factor in the recovery of patients with chronic pain. This topic has not received the warranted attention in clinical practice, while the outcomes of pain interventions have been suboptimal. This study explores the current situation of pain catastrophizing in patients with chronic neuropathic pain, its influencing factors, and further analyzes the complex relationship between these factors.

Methods

A cross-sectional study design was used to select preoperative patients hospitalized in the pain and spine surgery departments of two tertiary hospitals in Shandong Province, China, between February and August 2022. The Pain Catastrophizing Scale, Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-Short, Somatization Sub-Scale of Symptom Checklist 90, and a sociodemographic questionnaire were used to evaluate participants’ pain catastrophizing, alexithymia, psychological resilience, somatization, and relevant sociodemographic variables, respectively. Descriptive statistics, correlation, univariate, and multivariate analyses were employed throughout this process.

Results

Pain catastrophizing in patients with chronic neuropathic pain was affected by pain severity, disease type, alexithymia, psychological resilience, and somatization (p < .05). The mediating effect values of psychological resilience and somatization between alexithymia and pain catastrophizing were both 0.05, with 95% confidence intervals of (0.02, 0.09) and (0.02, 0.07), respectively.

Conclusions

Pain severity, disease type, alexithymia, psychological resilience, and somatization all had a significant effect on pain catastrophizing. Healthcare workers must provide timely and accurate assessments of patients’ pain levels to help prevent the onset of pain catastrophizing. Adopting measures to improve alexithymia and somatization symptoms, and focusing on enhancing patients’ psychological resilience can also help reduce the level of pain catastrophizing. Cognitive behavioral therapy may be an effective treatment method for pain catastrophizing.