The effect of chemical dependency on pain perception in persons with AIDS

A sample of persons with AIDS (N = 71) was drawn from two tertiary care centers and one group residence. Chemical dependence was measured by the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) and the Drug and Alcohol Screening Test (DAST), and the perception of pain was then measured with the Wisconsin Brief Pain Inventory. The hypothesis that the groups would demonstrate a significantly different perception of pain was not supported. Self-report of drug and alcohol use did not correlate well with scores on the MAST and DAST, indicating that these instruments may not measure chemical dependence in persons with AIDS. On scales of zero to 10, mean scores reflecting pain intensity averaged 5.1 and scores reflecting pain's interference with seven aspects of daily life averaged 5.98.