Abstract
MMPI profiles were evaluated for 105 prospective surgical patients who had previously undergone surgery or other procedures for treatment of back pain. Patients were classified into groups having undergone zero, one, two, three, or four or more previous surgeries. While all groups demonstrated a characteristicsomatogenic profile, none of the MMPI validity or clinical scales significantly differentiated the groups and there was no relationship between increased number of surgeries and MMPI scale characteristics. These results support the nonoptimistic prognostication of thesomatogenic MMPI profile for surgical intervention for back pain but show no clear relationship of MMPI profile characteristics to degree of experience of previously failed surgery.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Blumetti, A. E., & Modesti, L. M. (1976). Psychological predictors of success or failure of surgical intervention for intractable back pain. In J. J. Bonica & D. Albe-Fessard (Eds.),Advances in pain research and therapy, Vol. 1. New York: Raven Press.
Bradley, L. A., Prokop, C. K., Margolis, R., & Gentry, W. D. (1978). Multivariate analyses of the MMPI profiles of low back pain patients.Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 1, 253–272.
Butcher, J. N., Dahlstrom, W. G., Graham, J. R., Tellegen, A. M., & Kaemmer, B. (1989).MMPI-2 Manual for Administration and Scoring. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Chapman, C. R., & Bonica, J. J. (1985).Chronic pain. Upjohn.
Graham, J. R., Timbrook, R. E., Ben-Porath, Y. S., & Butcher, J. N. (1991). Code-type congruence between MMPI and MMPI-2: Separating fact from artifact.Journal of Personality Assessment, 57, 205–215.
Greene, R. L. (191).MMPI-2/MMPI; An interpretive manual. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Hathaway, S. R., & McKinley, J. C. (1983).The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Manual. New York: Psychological Corp.
Keller, L. S., & Butcher, J. N. (1991).Assessment of Chronic Pain Patients with the MMPI-2. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Maruta, T., Swanson, D. W., & Swenson, W. M. (1976a). Low back pain patients in a psychiatric population.Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 51, 57–61.
Maruta, T., Swanson, D. W., & Swenson, W. M. (1976b). Pain as a psychiatric symptom: Comparison between low back pain and depression.Psychosomatics, XVII, 123–127.
Pheasant, H. C., Gilbert, D., Goldfarb, J., & Herron, L. (1979). The MMPI as a predictor of outcome in low-back surgery.Spine, 4, 78–84.
Spengler, D., & Greeman, D. (1979). Patient selection for lumbar discetomy, an objective approach.Spine, 4, 129.
Sternbach, R. A. (1974).Pain patients: Traits and treatment. New York: Academic Press.
Sternbach, R. A., Wolf, S. R., Murphy, R. W., & Akeson, W. H. (1973). Aspects of chronic low back pain.Psychosomatics, 14, 52–56.
Strassberg, D. S., Reimherr, F., Ward, M., Russell, S., & Cole, A. (1981). The MMPI and chronic pain.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 49, 220–226.
Strassberg, D. S., Tilley, D., Bristone, S., & Oei, T.P.S. (1992). The MMPI and chronic pain: A cross-cultural view.Psychological Assessment, 4, 493–497.
Wifling, F. J., Klonoff, H., & Kokan, P. (1973). Psychological, demographic and orthopaedic factors associated with prediction of outcome of spinal fusion.Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 90, 153–160.
Wiltse, L. L. (1975). Predicting the success of low back surgery by the use of preoperative psychological tests.Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 57B, 259.
Wiltse, L. L., & Rocchio, P. D. (1975). Preoperative psychological tests as predictors of success of chemonucleolysis in the treatment of the low-back syndrome.Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 57-A, 478–483.
Zachary, R. A. (1991).Shipley Institute of Living Scale. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bieliauskas, L.A., Graziano, G.P., Kullgren, K. et al. Failed back surgeries and minnesota multiphasic personality inventory (MMPI) profiles. J Clin Psychol Med Settings 1, 161–166 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01999744
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01999744