Mikael Svanberg, Britt-Marie Stålnacke, Paul Enthoven, Gunilla Brodda-Jansen, Björn Gerdle, Katja Boersma
Psychosomatic Medicine Clinic, Karlsgatan 17 A, SE-722 14 Västerås, Sweden

DOI: 0.2340/16501977-2212

Distress and pain-related fear bear meaning for understanding chronic pain patients’ adaptation to pain and outcome in rehabilitation


There is a connection between worrying, distress and chronic pain. A group of pain patients referred to rehabilitation were analyzed and we could conclude that there were subgroups with different levels of distress and pain-related fear among them. Compared to the other patients, the patients with highest distress and pain-related fear found it harder to accept pain, had lower quality of life and were less likely to go into rehabilitation. While those who did continue to rehabilitation improved, they still had significant remaining problems after rehabilitation. This study shows the need for focusing on psychological factors when assessing and treating chronic pain.