Temporal Association of Pain Catastrophizing and Pain Severity Across the Perioperative Period: A Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis After Total Knee Arthroplasty

Objective: Although numerous studies show that preoperative pain catastrophizing is a risk factor for pain after total knee arthroplasty (TKA), little is known about the temporal course of the association between perioperative pain catastrophizing and pain severity. The present study investigated temporal changes and their dynamic associations between pain catastrophizing and pain severity before and after TKA.

Design: A secondary data analysis of a larger observational parent study featuring prospective repeated measurement over 12 months.

Setting: Dual-site academic hospital.

Subjects: A total of 245 individuals who underwent TKA.

Methods: Participants completed pain catastrophizing and pain severity questionnaires at baseline, 6 weeks, and 3, 6, and 12 months after TKA. Cross-lagged panel analysis was conducted with structural equation modeling including age, sex, race, baseline anxiety, and depressive symptoms as covariates.

Results: Reduction in pain catastrophizing from baseline to 6 weeks after TKA was associated with lower pain severity at 3 months after TKA (standardized β = 0.14; SE = 0.07, P = 0.046), while reduction in pain severity at 6 weeks after TKA was not associated with pain catastrophizing at 3 months after TKA (P = 0.905). In the chronic postsurgical period (>3 months), pain catastrophizing at 6 months after TKA predicted pain severity at 12 months after TKA (β = 0.23, P = 0.009) with controlling for auto-correlation and covariates, but not vice versa.

Conclusions: We provide evidence that changes in pain catastrophizing from baseline to 6 weeks after TKA are associated with subsequent pain severity. Future studies are warranted to determine whether targeting pain catastrophizing during the perioperative period may improve clinical outcomes for individuals undergoing TKA.