Pain location and psychological characteristics of patients with chronic pain

The authors assessed psychological characteristics of 140 medical outpatien ts with chronic nonmalignant pain referred for psychiatric consultation. Su bjects compared the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Somatosensory Amplification. Scale (SSAS), and Counterdependency Scale (CDS). The only psychological me asure able to differentiate the chronic pain group from the control subject s was the CDS. However SSAS scores were significantly higher in subjects ha ving pain involving the head, chest, abdomen, or pelvis than in subjects ha ving pain only in their hacks or extremities. The latter subgroup had signi ficantly higher CDS scores. The findings suggest that there are discrete su bgroups within the chronic pain population defined by pain location and spe cific psychological characteristics.