Psychological, numeric, and graphic methods of assessment in chronic pain patients

Aims: Chronic pain patients use linguistic but also symbolic ways to express their pain and disability. The objectives of the study were to examine the associations between pain intensity, Pain Drawings (PD), Pain Words (PW), psychological and socio-demographic variables and to investigate their impact on functional ability. Patients' Pain Drawings were included as an indicator of their depiction of pain extent. Methods: Cross-sectional study with chronic pain patients referred to our Pain Center over one year. Patients completed self-administered questionnaires: SF-36 including physical component summary (PCS) as an indicator of functional ability, McCill Pain Questionnaire, Visual Analogue Scales (VAS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Pain Drawings characteristics (lines, arrows, crosses) were analyzed and summed. Full data were available for 236 of 285 patients; 63% women, 65%