PAIN CATASTROPHIZING SCALE
ICF Category	Measurement of impairment of body function – content of thought (mental functions consisting of the ideas that are present in the thinking process and what is being conceptualized); and thought functions, specified as the tendency to elaborate physical symptoms for cognitive/ideational reasons
Description	The Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) assesses the degree of catastrophic cognitions due to LBP.282 Pain catastrophizing has been broadly defined as an exaggerated negative orientation towards actual or anticipated pain experiences.282 The PCS is a 13-item questionnaire with a potential range of 0 to 52, with higher scores indicating higher levels of pain catastrophizing. The PCS assesses 3 independent dimensions of pain catastrophizing: rumination (items 8–11 – ruminating thoughts, worrying, inability to inhibit pain related thoughts); magnification (items 6,7,13 – magnification of the unpleasantness of pain situations and expectancies for negative outcomes); and helplessness (items 1–5, 12 – inability to deal with painful situations).282, 291 Patients rate their agreement with statements related to thoughts and feelings when experiencing pain on a 5-point Likert scale (0 = “not at all,” 4 = “all the time”).282
Measurement method	Self-report
Nature of variable	Continuous
Units of measurement	Individual items: 5-point Likert scale (0 = “not at all,” 4 = “all the time”)
Measurement properties	Test-retest reliability has been reported for the PCS at 6 (r = .75) and 10-weeks (r = .70).282 Cronbach’s alpha estimates ranging from .85 to .92 suggest the PCS is internally consistent.70, 71, 227 and similar findings have been found for items related to rumination (.85), magnification (.75), and helplessness (.86).227 The PCS has been found to demonstrate several different types of validity.70, 71, 227, 282