The Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI): establishing clinically significant values for identifying central sensitivity syndromes in an outpatient chronic pain sample

Central sensitization (CS) is a proposed physiological phenomenon in which central nervous system neurons become hyperexcitable, resulting in hypersensitivity to both noxious and non-noxious stimuli. The term central sensitivity syndrome (CSS) describes a group of medically indistinct (or nonspecific) disorders, such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and irritable bowel syndrome, for which CS may be a common etiology. In a previous study, the Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI) was introduced as a screening instrument for clinicians to help identify patients with a CSS. It was found to have high reliability and validity (test-retest reliability = .82; Cronbach's alpha = .88). The present study investigated a cohort of 121 patients who were referred to a multidisciplinary pain center, which specializes in the assessment and treatment of complex pain and psychophysiological disorders, including CSSs. A large percentage of patients (n = 89, 74%) met clinical criteria for one or more CSSs, and CSI scores were positively correlated with the number of diagnosed CSSs. A receiver operating characteristic analysis determined that a CSI score of 40 out of 100 best distinguished between the CSS patient group and a nonpatient comparison sample (N = 129) (area under the curve = .86, sensitivity = 81%, specificity = 75%).

Perspective: The CSI is a new self-report screening instrument to help identify patients with CSSs, including fibromyalgia. The present study investigated CSI scores in a heterogeneous pain population with a large percentage of CSSs, and a normative nonclinical sample to determine a clinically relevant cutoff value.