Pain Catastrophizing Scale Associated With Other Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Plantar Fasciitis and Chronic Ankle Instability Patients

Abstract

Background:

The Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) is a measure of how patients emotionally respond to pain. It is composed of 3 subscales—rumination, magnification, and helplessness—which address intrusive thoughts of pain, expectations of negative outcomes, and inability to cope with pain. Our purpose is to compare baseline PCS scores with other baseline patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in patients with plantar fasciitis (PF) or chronic ankle instability (CAI).

Methods:

We retrospectively reviewed 201 patients who reported at least 1 pretreatment PCS subscore and were diagnosed with PF or CAI between 2015 and 2020 in a single fellowship-trained foot and ankle surgeon’s clinic. Demographics, comorbidities, treatments, other baseline PROMs (i.e., visual analog scale [VAS], Pain Disability Index [PDI], 12-Item Short Form Survey [SF-12], 8-Item Somatic Symptom Scale [SSS-8]), and postoperative outcomes were recorded.

Results:

The PCS total score and its subscores significantly correlated with the total score and/or subscores of each PROM. Higher PCS total score significantly correlated with worse VAS (P<.001), SF-12 mental (P=.007), PDI total (P<.001), and SSS-8 (P<.001) scores. Only the PCS magnification subscore was significantly greater among patients who did (n=41) undergo surgery (P=.043). Those who had previously undergone foot and/or ankle surgery had significantly higher PCS rumination (P=.012), magnification (P=.006), helplessness (P=.008), and total (P=.003) scores. Likewise, those with a history of substance abuse also had significantly higher PCS scores (P=.005; P=.003; P=.006; P=.003).

Conclusion:

The correlations between PCS scores and other baseline PROMs indicate that strong pain catastrophizers with PF or CAI may be at risk for poor treatment outcomes. PCS scores could be used to help with treatment for such high-risk patients.