This study was designed to synthesize recent randomized controlled trials examining the associations between pain catastrophizing and four key pain-related outcomes (i.e., pain intensity, disability, pain interference, and physical function) among adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain. This review clarifies the role of pain catastrophizing in pain outcomes to inform targeted interventions. A systematic review was performed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PubMed, Excerpta Medica Database, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched. The key search terms "pain catastrophizing," "chronic musculoskeletal pain," and "pain-related outcomes" were combined to find randomized controlled trials published in English from October 2018 to 2024 and study quality was assessed using the revised Cochrane Risk-of-Bias tool for randomized trials. The data were descriptively synthesized. After screening, 20 studies were included in the review. The major pain type was chronic back pain. Among the studies, 13 reported a significant association between pain catastrophizing and pain-related outcomes, with some studies identifying multiple significant outcomes, including pain intensity (n = 8), disability (n = 7), and pain interference (n = 3). This review highlights the associations between pain catastrophizing and pain-related outcomes in adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain. The findings emphasize the importance of addressing pain catastrophizing in interventions to improve pain-related outcomes. This work was supported by Grant K24 AT011995 from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Shimada et al. (Fri,) studied this question.