Neurocognitive performance and emotional status in chronic pain patients

The following study examined the association between neurocognitive perform ance and emotional status in chronic pain patients. Seventy-three chronic p ain patients recruited consecutively from services in a general medical hos pital completed a battery of 10 neurocognitive measures and the Symptom Che cklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R; a gross measure of emotional distress). Cluste r analytic procedures were used to identify a three-cluster group solution based on the SCL-90-R. Results indicate that subjects highest in emotional distress experienced more neurocognitive difficulties in intellectual funct ioning, immediate and delayed recall of verbal and nonverbal material, abst ract thinking and problem solving, and cognitive efficiency than subjects l owest in emotional distress. The differences in neurocognitive functioning among the three cluster groups were not confounded by any differences on a number of background variables. These results suggest that level of emotion al distress is associated with difficulties in a range of neurocognitive do mains and have implications for the assessment and management of chronic pa in patients.