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A possible indicator of functional pain: poor pain scale correlation
Franklin Perry1, Philip H Heller, Jon D Levine
1Departments of Anatomy, Medicine, and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and Division of Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0724 U.S.A.
Pain
|August 1, 1991
Summary
Pain assessments using the visual analogue scale (VAS) and McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) correlated well in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) but poorly in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This suggests differences in how organic versus functional pain is perceived and reported.
Area of Science:
- Gastroenterology
- Pain Medicine
- Psychosomatic Medicine
Background:
- Investigating pain perception differences between organic diseases like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and functional pain syndromes such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is crucial for accurate diagnosis and treatment.
- Previous research suggests distinct patterns in pain reporting for organic versus functional pain conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the correlations between different pain measures in patients with IBD versus IBS.
- To determine if the observed differences in pain correlations are related to sensory and affective pain components.
Main Methods:
- Patients with IBD (organic cause) and IBS (functional cause) were recruited.
- Pain was assessed using the visual analogue scale (VAS) and the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ), including its present pain intensity (PPI) scale.
- Statistical correlations between VAS and MPQ/PPI scores were analyzed for both patient groups.
Main Results:
- A strong correlation was found between VAS and MPQ/PPI scores in patients with IBD.
- A weak correlation was observed between VAS and MPQ/PPI scores in patients with IBS.
- The differences in correlation were not attributable to altered sensory and affective pain components.
Conclusions:
- Pain reporting and assessment methods show significant differences between organic (IBD) and functional (IBS) pain syndromes.
- The findings support distinct underlying mechanisms for pain perception in IBD and IBS.
- These results align with previous observations in musculoskeletal pain syndromes, indicating a potential generalizable pattern in organic versus functional pain.