Correlates of pain interference in multiple sclerosis.

Objectives: To describe pain interference and explore its associations with several indexes of health and psychosocial functioning among veterans with multiple sclerosis (MS). Study Design: Cohort study linking computerized medical records and survey questionnaire. Participants: Four hundred fifty-one veterans with MS. Outcome Measures: Pain Effects Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire, Modified Social Support Survey, items from the Short Form Health Survey and the North American Research Consortium on MS Registry Survey (NARCOMS) Performance Scales. Results: Participants reported a moderate level of overall pain interference. Increased fatigue, poorer general health, and greater depression symptom severity each were significantly associated with higher levels of pain interference. Conclusions: Pain interference in MS is associated with a variety of other clinically meaningful indexes of functioning. Pain in MS should be treated aggressively to minimize functional impairment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)