Pain catastrophizing was associated with several chronic pain outcomes
A review of trial reports found links with pain intensity, disability and pain interference. It does not establish that catastrophizing causes those outcomes.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
The review found that pain catastrophizing was linked with pain-related outcomes in many included studies. These associations may help describe the experience of chronic musculoskeletal pain, but they do not show that catastrophizing causes worse symptoms or that reducing it will necessarily improve pain. The abstract supplies no pooled estimate of association strength.
The abstract reports counts of studies with significant associations, without their direction, magnitude or timing. It also does not summarize physical-function results, although physical function was among the outcomes the review set out to examine.
What was associated
Significant associations were reported for pain intensity, disability and interference with activities. Some studies contributed findings for several outcomes, so the outcome-specific study counts overlap and should not be added together as separate studies.
Why trial data are not enough
Although the review drew from randomized trials, its question concerned associations involving catastrophizing. Randomization of a treatment does not automatically make these associations causal or establish that catastrophizing itself was the reason pain outcomes differed.
The original publication
A Systematic Review of Pain Catastrophizing and Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain.
Shimada S, Doorenbos AZ, Goldstein E et al.
Pain Manag Nurs · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 40858413
- Record checked
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