Behaviour-focused pain coping: consistency and convergence to work capability of the swedish version of the chronic pain coping inventory

Abstract

The aim was to study the psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the Chronic Pain Coping Inventory. The material consisted of a group of 100 subjects recruited from a large population study. Pain status and the absence of pain-related sick leave during the previous year conditioned inclusion. Another group comprised 160 patients on the long-term sick list and who had been referred to a multidisciplinary pain clinic for evaluation. The psychometric properties in terms of internal consistency of the scales were good or very good for all scales of behaviour-focused pain coping. Use of the strategies "Guarding", "Resting", "Asking for assistance", "Relaxation", "Task persistence", "Coping self-statements" and "Seeking social support" was significantly related to vocational capability. "Guarding". "Asking for assistance", "Relaxation", "Exercise and stretch" and "Coping self-statements" increased in parallel to increasing pain from localized to intermediate or widespread. No gender difference was found in cases reporting more pronounced pain.