Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 29, 2025

Author Spotlight: Quantifying Pain Experience – An Illustrative Approach Using the Pain Body Diagram
Published on: July 7, 2023
Classification of pain intensity with the pain beliefs and perceptions inventory (PBPI) and the pain catastrophizing
Angel Blanch1, Sílvia Solé2,3
1Department of Psychology, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain. angel.blanch@udl.cat.
Purpose:
The pain beliefs and perceptions inventory (PBPI) and the pain catastrophizing scales (PCS) characterize beliefs or distress dimensions of the pain experience. It is relatively unknown, however, to what degree the PBPI and the PCS are well suited to classifying pain intensity.
Methods:
This study applied a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) approach to these instruments against the criterion of a visual analogue scale (VAS) of pain intensity with fibromyalgia and chronic back pain patients (n = 419).
Results:
The largest areas under the curve (AUC) were moderate and limited to the constancy subscale (71%) and total score (70%) of the PBPI and to the helplessness subscale (75%) and total score (72%) of the PCS. The best cut-off scores for the PBPI and PCS were better off at detecting true negatives than true positives, with larger specificity than sensitivity values.
Conclusion:
Whereas, the PBPI and PCS are certainly useful instruments to evaluate diverse pain experiences, they may be inappropriate to classify intensity. The PCS performs marginally better than the PBPI for classifying pain intensity.
Related Concept Videos
Pain
Methods of Documentation III: PIE
Analgesia and Pain Management
SBAR II: Application of SBAR
SBAR Report from a Nurse to a Health Care Provider
S: "Hello, Dr. Smith. This is Jane, RN, from the Med Surg unit. I am calling to tell you about Ms. White in Room 210, who is experiencing increased pain and redness at her incision site. Her recent...
Sound Intensity Level
The human ear can perceive an extensive range of sound intensity, necessitating the use of the logarithmic scale to define a physical quantity—the intensity level. It is a ratio of two intensities and...
Peripheral Arterial Disease II: Clinical Manifestations and Diagnostic Evaluation

