Long-term, non-specific spinal pain: reliable and valid subgroups of patients

The aim of this study was to identify reliable and valid subgroups of spina l pain patients, using data from the Swedish version of the Multidimensiona l Pain Inventory (MPI-S). A second aim was to test the generalisability of the three patient profiles described in earlier studies on the MPI ("adapti ve coper", "dysfunctional" and "interpersonally distressed" patients). The study base consisted of two samples of individuals suffering from long-term , non-specific spinal pain and the results were validated across these samp les. Cluster analysis was used to detect distinct groups of patients and th e validity of these subgroups was evaluated on variables not used to genera te the cluster solution. One subgroup was characterised by lower pain sever ity, lower interference with everyday activities, lower affective distress and higher life control than the other two subgroups. This patient profile was similar to the MPI adaptive coper patients. A second subgroup resembled the dysfunctional patient profile, thus displaying a worse adjustment to c hronic pain than the AC patients. The third patient group reported signific antly lower levels of social support from "significant others" than the oth er subgroups. This patient profile was similar to that of the interpersonal ly distressed patient group. Taken together, the results support the reliab ility, validity and generalisability of three subgroups of chronic pain pat ients derived from the MPI-S. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights res erved.