PSYCHIATRIC MORBIDITY AND ILLNESS BEHAVIOR IN WOMEN WITH CHRONIC PELVIC PAIN

Sixty-two gynaecology in-patients were screened for psychiatric disorder and illness behaviour on the eve of elective laparoscopy. Patients with chronic pelvic pain (CPP) reported significantly more depressed mood and illness behaviour than those without pain. Chronic pelvic pain patients with relevant structural pathology at laparoscopy were compared to those with negative laparoscopic findings. The two groups did not differ on measures of psychiatric morbidity or illness behaviour. They differed significantly in response to the McGill Pain Questionnaire. These findings were used to propose a self-report instrument for predicting negative laparoscopic findings in depressed CPP patients pre-operatively.