Pain Patient Profile: a scale to measure psychological distress.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the construct validity of the Pain Patient Profile (P-3), a brief self-report instrument designed to measure anxiety, depression, and somatization in patients presenting with pain.


METHODS
Comparison of P-3 scores with previously established measures of depression, anxiety, and somatization, and comparison of P-3 scores of pain patients with those of patients with diabetes.


METHODS
Hospital-based outpatient pain clinic, family practice clinic, diabetes education group.


METHODS
Seventy pain patients and 40 patients with diabetes.


RESULTS
High positive correlations (.69 to .90) were found between the P-3 scales of Depression, Anxiety, and Somatization and the corresponding measures of these constructs, and high intercorrelations were found among the three P-3 scales. Significant differences were found between pain patients and diabetes patients for the P-3 Depression and Somatization scale scores, but not for the P-3 Anxiety scale scores.


CONCLUSIONS
The P-3 is a useful instrument for initial screening of psychological distress in pain patients. Some patients may show elevations on more than one of the clinical scales, which either indicates that the P-3 does not distinguish well among these constructs or reflects the well-established comorbidity of these constructs.
Willoughby
S G
SG
Department of Psychology, The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg 39406-9371, USA.
Hailey
B J
BJ
Wheeler
L C
LC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000523:psychology; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology