Time perspective as a predictor of acute postsurgical pain and coping with pain following abdominal surgery.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to predict acute postsurgical pain and coping with pain following surgery based on preoperative time perspectives. Time perspective is a basic dimension of psychological time. It is a tendency to focus on a particular time area: the past, the present and the future.

METHOD: Seventy-six patients completed measures of time perspective and pain 24 h before abdominal surgery. During the 3 days after surgery, measures of pain and coping with pain were completed.

RESULTS: We performed hierarchical regression analyses to identify predictors of acute postsurgical pain and how patients cope with it. These analyses suggested that a preoperative past-negative time perspective can be a predictor of postoperative pain level and catastrophizing after surgery.

CONCLUSION: The findings of our study indicate the importance of time perspective, especially the past perspective, in dealing with postoperative pain.

SIGNIFICANCE: Our research indicates that a preoperative past-negative time perspective is a significant predictor of acute postsurgical pain intensity and the strongest predictor of pain catastrophizing.