Abstract
Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a promising treatment for chronic intractable
pain. For a certain subset of the chronic pain population, it is highly efficacious at
reducing pain and increasing quality of life. Presurgical psychological screening (PPS)
and selection criteria have been used in the past to exclude patients who are likely to fail
SCS treatment; however, PPS and selection criteria for predicting outcome are widely
debated. The present study examined MMPI-2 data from 59 patients who underwent
SCS trials in an attempt to identify predictive factors for SCS success leading to SCS implant. Scale 4 (Pd) of the MMPI-2 provided the best predictive model, correctly
classifying trial outcome for 81.4% of all cases. The present study is first in the literature
to indicate the central importance of scale 4 in the prediction of SCS trial outcome.
Future research is needed to confirm the present study’s findings and to continue to
identify predictive factors of SCS outcome to improve PPS selection criteria and to aid in
the development of appropriate interventions that will lead to better SCS outcomes.
