The Perceived Control Over Pain Construct and Functional Status.
BACKGROUND
Belief in one's ability to control pain is a significant predictor of health outcomes and is related to improved functional status. The purpose of this study was to introduce a novel formulation of the construct, Perceived Control Over Pain and to test its effects on functional status.


METHODS
Participants (N = 301) were primarily African American (92%); and were adults with low income attending a primary care clinic and reporting pain within the past 2 weeks. A cross-sectional design was used with confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The Perceived Control Over Pain construct consisted of four measures-two specific measures of control over pain and two general measures of control over life events. Perceived Control Over Pain has not been defined in this way previously.


RESULTS
Mean worst pain scores for the past week were 8.4, where "0" (no pain) to "10" (pain as bad as you can imagine). The model demonstrated good construct validity for the components of pain, Perceived Control Over Pain and functional status. Mediation by Perceived Control Over Pain was partial but strong, accounting for a reduction of 29% in the effect of pain on functional status.


CONCLUSIONS
In minority populations with low income, factors such as perceived control over pain and its effect on the outcome of patient function need to be considered. Improving Perceived Control Over Pain has the potential for improving patients' feelings of life control and purpose or meaning in life, and psychological and physical functioning for adults living with pain.
*Wayne State University, College of Nursing, Detroit, Michigan, USA April.vallerand@wayne.edu.
April Hazard
AH
Vallerand
University of Windsor, Faculty of Nursing, Windsor, Canada.
Jamie
J
Crawley
*Wayne State University, College of Nursing, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Barbara
B
Pieper
*Wayne State University, College of Nursing, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Thomas N
TN
Templin
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D010465:Perception; D055815:Young Adult
Functional Status; Perceived Control Over Pain; Structural Equation Model