Association between psychosocial factors and pain in patients with trigger finger

Purpose To test the hypothesis that psychological factors correlate with pain intensity in trigger finger (TF). Methods Patients with TF were selected from two previous cohort studies measuring pain intensity and psychological parameters, 82 from one study and 72 from another. Correlation testing and multiple linear regression was performed. Measures included the pain catastrophizing scale (PCS), pain self-efficacy questionnaire (PSEQ), patient health questionnaire depression (PHQ-D) scale, center for epidemiologic studies depression (CES-D) scale, pain anxiety symptoms score (PASS), and the eysenck personality questionnaire (EPQ-R) scales. Results There was moderate correlation between pain intensity and PCS ( ρ = 0.52; P < 0.001) and PSEQ ( ρ = − 0.36; P < 0.001). There was weak correlation between pain and PHQ-D ( ρ = 0.23; P = 0.019). No significant correlation existed with CES-D or EPQ-R. PCS accounted for 26% of the variance in pain for patients awaiting surgery ( P < 0.001). Conclusion Self-reported pain in TF has moderate correlation with psychological factors, most predominantly pain catastrophizing.