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A Cluster Analysis of the Multidimensional Pain Inventory
Author(s) -
Walter Laurie,
Bran Linda
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
headache: the journal of head and face pain
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.14
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1526-4610
pISSN - 0017-8748
DOI - 10.1111/j.1526-4610.1991.hed3107476.x
Subject(s) - cognition , clinical psychology , population , cluster headache , headaches , chronic pain , dysfunctional family , cluster (spacecraft) , complaint , biofeedback , psychology , physical therapy , medicine , psychiatry , migraine , computer science , environmental health , political science , law , programming language
SYNOPSIS Seventy‐nine patients with chronic headaches of diverse causes, recruited from a headache clinic's biofeedback facility, were administered the Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPl) for measuring the cognitive, behavioral, and affective dimensions of pain. Using the statistical technique of cluster analysis to organize the results, three clusters emerged, and were similar in their characteristics to those named “Dysfunctional”, “Interpersonally Distressed”, and “Adaptive Coper” by other authors who had applied the Inventory and the cluster analysis technique to other populations (one population containing heterogenous groups of chronic pain patients, and another population of patients suffering from “temporomandibular joint disorders”.) Additional analyses of our results confirmed that the three groups were distinct from one another; and that age, sex, duration of complaint, and diagnosis, were not factors in the formation of the groups. Our results suggest that the MPI is a valid measure of the cognitive, behavioral and affective aspects of pain. Rather than apply a similar intervention program to all headache patients, it might be more effective to tailor treatment to the variations in these aspects exhibited by patients in the three different clusters.