Influence of neuroticism, catastrophizing, pain duration, and receipt of compensation on short-term response to nerve block treatment for chronic back pain

This study investigated the influence of pain catastrophizing, neuroticism, pain duration, and receipt of compensation for 60 patients undergoing nerv e block treatment for chronic back pain. Follow-up assessment 1 week follow ing nerve block treatment found that neither neuroticism nor catastrophizin g predicted level of reported pain or extent of disability However, receipt of compensation and duration of pain were both associated with reduced ben efit from treatment. The above four variables combined were able to account for 24% of the outcome variance in both level of pain and extent of disabi lity Possible causal patterns related to compensation and treatment outcome , limitations of the study, and directions for future research are discusse d.