Objectives were to determine the psychosocial stress (PSS) due to pain-related impairments (PRI) of individuals with polytrauma (PTM) history >two years and chronic pain (CP) using the Psychosocial Distress Status (PDS) sub-construct of the Pain Disability Questionnaire (PDQ), from the AMA Guides 6th Edition.

A retrospective study was done in an outpatient rehabilitation clinic on 34 subjects with PTM & CP identified by the Self-Administered Co-Morbidity Questionnaire. PDQ, divided into Functional Status (FS) versus PDS, rated the PRI, and the Physical Performance Tests (PPT) were: Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT). Pearson correlation coefficients (r) examined PDS and PPT association with alpha of .01 used for statistical tests.

Total PDQ outcomes were: 27% mild; 38% moderate; 29% severe; and, 6% extreme PRI. PDQ-PDS ranged 8–55 points, averaging 37 of 60. Statistically significant negative correlation was found between Total PDQ score and: BBS (r = −.577, p = .005), distance (r = −.468, p = .005), metabolic equivalents METs (r = −.482, p = .004), & speed (r = −.447, p = .008). PDQ-PDS also had a statistically significant negative correlation with BBS (r = −.472, p = .005), while PDQ-FS was negatively correlated with: BBS (r = −.596, p = .001), distance (r=−.539, p = .001), METs (r = −.545, p = .001), and speed (r = −.527, p = .001).

Most Poly-Trauma subjects had moderate PRI, fair dynamic gait, and mild balance deficits, which was negatively affected by PSS. Findings suggest that the self-reported PDQ-PDS reliably indicates physical performance of PTM subjects with CP, and would be helpful as a PPT alternative in a clinical practice. Further research into its application amongst other patient populations would be beneficial.