The study of the MMPI scores of 430 male and 180 female Australian chronic pain patients revealed mean MMPI profiles (i.e., elevated Hypochondriasis, Hysteria, and Depression clinical scales) and 3 cluster-analytically derived profile types that corresponded closely to findings in the literature on U.S. chronic pain patients. Further, at least some of the behavioral correlates associated with MMPI performance among U.S. pain patients were also found for the Australian pain patients.The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI; Hathaway & McKinley, 1983) frequently has been used in studies describing the personality characteristics of patients with chronic pain. These studies typically have revealed mean profiles characterized by elevations on the Hypochondriasis (Hs), Depression (D), and Hysteria (Hy) scales (e.g., Maruta, Swanson, & Swenson, 1979;Strassberg, Reimherr, Ward, Russell, & Cole, 1981). Less consistency is found among studies attempting to use the MMPI to categorize chronic pain patients on the basis of presumed etiology (e.g., Elkins & Barrett, 1984).The poor response of so many chronic pain patients to treatment (e.g., Love & Peck, 1987) has inspired attempts to identify MMPI scores that might predict treatment outcome for these patients. The majority of this research has found that lower pretreatment scores on the Hs, Hy, and D scales are associated with better outcome for as long as 18 months after treatment (e.g., Strassberg et al., 1981).
Cluster AnalysesSeveral researchers have noted that mean MMPI profiles may not always accurately characterize a clinical sample (Prokop, 1988). Consequently, a variation in MMPI research with chronic pain patients uses sophisticated multivariate clustering procedures to identify stable profile subgroups within this population (e.g., Bradley, Prokop, Margolis, & Gentry, 1978;McCreary, 1985). In several studies, at least three such profile types have been reliably identified among patients with back pain (see Curtiss, Kinder, Kalichman, & Spana, 1988, for a
