Measurement of conscious symptom exaggeration by questionnaire: a clinical study.

This study compared measures of conscious exaggeration of symptoms by 157 patients with chronic pain who were involved in personal injury litigation with 106 patients not seeking compensation who were also attending a multidisciplinary pain clinic. Pain severity was assessed using a visual analogue scale and the adjectival check-list of the McGill Pain Questionnaire. There was no difference between the two groups on scores obtained on the Conscious Exaggeration (CE) scale; it was found that there was a significant correlation between CE scores and trait anxiety, hostility, state anxiety, and pain descriptors in the 'Miscellaneous' category of the McGill Pain Questionnaire. It was concluded that there is no support for the claim that the Conscious Exaggeration scale can detect deception with the object of financial gain among chronic pain patients involved in litigation.