PSYCHIATRIC MORBIDITY AND ILLNESS BEHAVIOR IN WOMEN WITH CHRONIC PELVIC PAIN

Sixty-two gynaecology in-patients were screened for psychiatric disord er and illness behaviour on the eve of elective laparoscopy. Patients with chronic pelvic pain (CPP) reported significantly more depressed m ood and illness behaviour than those without pain. Chronic pelvic pain patients with relevant structural pathology at laparoscopy were compa red to those with negative laparoscopic findings. The two groups did n ot differ on measures of psychiatric morbidity or illness behaviour. T hey differed significantly in response to the McGill Pain Questionnair e. These findings were used to propose a self-report instrument for pr edicting negative laparoscopic findings in depressed CPP patients pre- operatively.