Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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This is a structured evidence-based review of all available studies on the effect of pain, (a state phenomenon) on the measurement of personality characteristics (a trait phenomenon). ⋯ Based on the above results, it was concluded that some trait tests and inventories may not be pain state independent. Therefore, caution is warranted in interpreting postpain development personality profiles as being indicative of the true prepain personality structure, if measured by these tests. Why trait scores may change with treatment, confounding test-retest issues, and whether trait tests actually measure what they allegedly measure are discussed.