• Dana R Antunovich, Juliette C Horne, Natalie L Tuck, and Debbie J Bean.
• Department of Psychological Medicine, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
• Pain Med. 2021 Feb 4; 22 (1): 100-111.

ObjectiveComplex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a complex and often poorly understood condition, and people with CRPS will have diverse beliefs about their symptoms. According to the self-regulation model, these beliefs (termed "illness perceptions") influence health behaviors and outcomes. Previous studies have found that psychological factors influence CRPS outcomes, but few studies have investigated CRPS patients' illness perceptions specifically. The present study examined whether illness perceptions were related to pain intensity and other relevant outcomes in people with CRPS.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, 53 patients with CRPS (type 1 and type 2) completed questionnaires assessing illness perceptions, pain, disability, and psychological factors. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine whether illness perceptions were associated with pain intensity, disability, depression, and kinesiophobia, after controlling for possible covariates (including clinical and demographic factors, pain catastrophizing, and negative affect).ResultsNegative illness perceptions were associated with greater pain, disability, and kinesiophobia, but not depression. Specifically, attributing more symptoms to CRPS (more negative illness identity perceptions) was associated with greater pain intensity, and reporting a poorer understanding of CRPS (lower illness coherence scores) was associated with greater disability and kinesiophobia.ConclusionsPatients with CRPS with more negative illness perceptions (particularly perceptions indicating a poor understanding of their condition) also experience greater pain, disability, and kinesiophobia. Future research could investigate whether altering CRPS patients' illness perceptions influences clinical outcomes.© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

9 keywords...

hide…