Multivariate cluster analysis of the MMPI-2 in chronic low-back pain patients.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our study was to investigate whether Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 cluster solutions of chronic low-back pain patients would replicate those found in previous research with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.
SETTING: A multidisciplinary pain clinic in the southeastern United States. PATIENTS: The subjects were 201 chronic low-back pain patients who had suffered a work-related back injury. OUTCOME MEASURES: The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2.
RESULTS: We found four relatively homogeneous subgroups of chronic low-back pain patients that were similar to those identified by previous researchers using data collected with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.
CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that interpretations of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 should parallel those of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory for chronic low-back pain patients. They further suggest that the results of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-based studies are also applicable to Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2.