The McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) contains 11 subscales that

 measure the quality and the intensity of reported pain. The scales of

 the MPQ are the number of words chosen total (NWCT), the number of words

 chosen sensory (NWCS), the number of words chosen affective (NWCA), the

 number of words chosen evaluative (NWCE), the number of words chosen

 miscellaneous (NWCM), the pain rating index total (PRIT), the pain

 rating index sensory (PRIS), the pain rating index affective (PRIA), the

 pain rating index evaluative (PRIE), the pain rating index miscellaneous

 (PRIM), and the present pain intensity (PPI). The three patient samples

 differed significantly on the PRIT, the PRIA, the PRIM, and the PPI

 scales.


 The Gastric Bypass Group


 Subjects in this group were 29 females and 3 males with an average

age of 37. Patients are referred to this particular surgeon for the

gastric bypass procedure from all over the southeast. Because they had

been morbidly obese for years, they are sophisticated regarding medical

procedures and hospital routine. Since selection for this procedure

involves the ability to pay, this group of patients is financially

secure and generally well educated. During the postoperative interview,

several of them commented that they had had to gain weight in order to

qualify for the surgery, but they felt the risk was worth the hazard.

Not one patient expressed preexisting concern about the surgical risk,

and all of them were optimistic about anticipated results.

 Studies on psychopathology in the morbidly obese (covered in

Chapter 2) do not reveal any particular pattern of behaviors indicative