In this study researchers from Belgium and the Netherlands designed and tested a questionnaire used to assess patient attitudes to solving the problem of pain. The survey was called the Pain Solutions Questionnaire or PaSol.
The final survey ended up with 14 questions divided into four sections. The sections included: 1) Solving Pain, 2) Meaningfulness of Life Despite Pain, 3) Acceptance of Pain (that won’t go away), and 4) Belief in a Solution.
Each section was able to measure some aspect of pain. For example, beliefs and values such as coping with pain or attempting to cure or control pain were measured. Efforts at changing the problem or situation were also measured.
The results of such a survey will help professionals guide patients in matching a coping strategy with a realistic view of the problem. For example, if the patient continues to try and find a cure for pain that is incurable, then other solutions can be introduced.
Patients who believe that life has meaning even with pain tend to pay less attention to their pain. They have less disability and more function. Patients who keep looking for ways to solve the pain do so at the expense of pursuing other more functional goals. The result is they focus on their pain in a hypervigilant way.
The authors suggest several areas for future studies. For example, are styles of coping linked with disability caused by pain? How can we help patients who focus on their pain and who keep trying to solve the problem when it’s incurable? Can chronic pain patients become more flexible in finding other solutions (besides cure) to the problem of pain?
The authors’ final comment is that it remains to be seen whether patients who express an interest in problem solving actually make any attempts to do so.