Low-back pain: a psychosomatic clinical study

Most studies relating psychological factors to low-back pain have been done on subjects already referred to psychiatry. This study addresses 27 patients who had undergone their first lumber discoidectomy and never had any contact with psychiatry. They were submitted to a threefold assessment in order to find psychosocial criteria that could discriminate good- from bad-outcome subjects. It was found that a bad outcome was related to: a difficulty in perceiving and expressing affects, some financial compensation, high rating on pain assessment tests.