BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This research is based on biopsychosocial chronic pain perspective, which suggests the presence of a dynamic interrelation among biological changes, psychological status and social context, where each dimension has a differentiated role in chronic pain, incapacity and emotional balance. This article has examined the applicability of pain, incapacity and distress predictors, proposed by biopsychosocial pain models, in a sample of Brazilian chronic pain patients. METHOD: This is a transversal study carried out with a convenience sample of 311 participants seen by different pain centers located in the Southern and Southeastern regions of Brazil. Statistical analyses to evaluate tests properties and relationships among variables included t test, Variance Analysis, correlations, multiple and logistic hierarchical regression. All statistical analyses were performed with the SPSS-14 software. RESULTS: Organic, socio-demographic and cognitive factors have contributed to incapacity, depression, pain intensity and employability in a differentiated way. In this sample, education level, pain site and self-efficacy have contributed to incapacity; catastrophic thinking was the sole predictor of depression; gender and self-efficacy have contributed to pain intensity; and age, education level, incapacity and self-efficacy were risk factors for unemployment. CONCLUSION: Evidences described by the literature, based on the biopsychosocial perspective, which emphasizes the different role of biopsychosocial factors on pain, incapacity and mental distress were confirmed by this study.
Biopsychosocial model; Chronic pain; Depression; Employment; Incapacity
