Prognostic Value of Psychological Testing in Patients Undergoing Spinal Cord Stimulation: A Prospective Study

Abstract

Because our study population was selected on the basis of recognized prognostic factors and long clinical experience, it may not be possible to generalize our findings to the overall pain clinic referral population. In the subpopulation we have chosen for SCS trials, psychological testing is of modest value and explains little of the observed variance in outcome. We find little evidence for selecting patients for SCS on the basis of psychological testing. Because self-reported outcome measures may themselves reflect the patient's psychological state, these findings should be considered carefully, in overall clinical context. A prospective study with additional objective outcome measures is underway, which will address some of these issues.