Journal of behavioral medicine
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This study investigated the relation of cognitive coping and catastrophizing to acute postoperative pain and analgesic use. Fifty-nine women who had just undergone breast cancer surgery rated their pain on 3 consecutive days and completed a self-report measure of cognitive coping and catastrophizing prior to hospital discharge. Analgesic use over the 3-day period was tabulated from pharmacy records. ⋯ Additional analyses indicated that age was a significant predictor of both catastrophizing and postoperative pain. Specifically, younger patients were more likely to catastrophize and to report increased postoperative pain. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.