Which Affective Temperaments are Common in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome?

Objective: Affective temperament describes attiudes and behaviors which stand on structural, genetic and biological basis. Five principal affective temperaments are described: depressive, hyperthymic, cyclothymic, irritable, and anxious. Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A) is a scale to measure affective tem-perament. Complex regional pain syndromes (CRPS) are neuropathic pain disorders developing after a trauma. There is a high coincidence between CRPS and psychiatric symptoms and personality disorders. However it has been debated whether these symptoms are the result or the cause of this debilitating disease. In this study, we attempted to explore the most common affective temperament in CRPS patients. Material and Methods: Sixty CRPS patients (35 males, 25 females) diagnosed clinically and met The International Association of the Study of Pain (IASP) criteria were recruited to this study. Turkish version the TEMPS-A scale was used to determine the dominant affective temperament. Results: Depressive temperament was the most common dominant affective temperament. In this study we founded its frequency significantly higher in CRPS patients than normal Turkish population (p=0.00001). Conclusion: Assessment of temperament after an injury may be useful to develop a more suitable treatment strategy. Depressive temperament may affect the clinical course of the CRPS.