Mediating effect of catastrophising in correlation between pain and disability amongst patients with carpal tunnel syndrome.

OBJECTIVES

To examine the mediating role of catastrophizing in the relationship between pain and disability among patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).

METHODS

Cross-sectional register of 141 patients with CTS. Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) was used. Mediation analysis was used to assess the indirect effect of pain catastrophizing on pain-related disability.

RESULTS

The average age was 54.0 (SD 16.1) years and 89 (63 %) were women. For the total PCS score, the indirect effect was responsible for 31 % (95 % CI 15 %-47 %) to 33 % (95 % CI 15 %-52 %). The highest proportion was observed in the helplessness domain, 37 % (95 % CI 19 %-55 %). The lowest effect of 11 % (95 % CI 0 %-23 %) was seen for the magnification domain.

CONCLUSIONS

The mediating effect of catastrophizing was responsible for over 30 % of the total effect seen in correlation between pain and disability experienced by patients with CTS. While the effect of magnification sub-score was borderline and could probably be ignored in clinical context, domain of helplessness reached the effect size of almost 40 %. The results suggest that catastrophizing should be considered when treating or rehabilitating people with CTS. Catastrophizing may play a significant role in the development of pain-related disability.