Coping strategies of HIV patients with peripheral neuropathy

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between coping strategies and reports of with pain and distress in patients with HIV-related peripheral neuropathy. Seventy-eight HIV seropositive subjects completed the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ), a self-report measure that assesses seven factors, the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Bivariate correlations revealed that younger patients used more Praying-Hoping (r=-.23, p<.04) and Catastrophizing (r=-.30, p<.007). t-tests demonstrated that women used more Praying-Hoping (t(76) = 3.42, p<.01), while Hispanic and African American patients used more Praying-Hoping more than Caucasians (F (1,77) = 22.11, p=.0005). Catastrophizing significantly predicted higher scores on the BDI (t=2.968, p=.004), the Global Severity Index (GSI) of the Brief Symptom Inventory BSI (t=2.400, p=.02); and pain interference on the Brief Pain Inventory BPI (t=2.996, p=.004) controlling for age, gender, and ethnic background. These results demonstrate that coping strategies may differ according to age, gender, and ethnic background in an HIV population, and that Catastrophizing predicts distress and interference with functioning in this sample.