# Beck Factor



## NESmith (Feb 18, 2010)

Please help. I hava a new Pain Management doctor who keeps talking about the Beck Factor. Can someone help me with this and tell me where I can find this information? Thank You


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## AuntJoyce (Feb 18, 2010)

Good morning,

The Beck Factor is actually a measurement of the depression associated with chronic pain.  

This is just a tiny excerpt from an article defining the Beck Factor Inventory:

"The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is widely used to assess depression in chronic pain despite doubts about its structure and therefore its interpretation. This study used a large sample of 1947 patients entering chronic pain management to establish the structure of the BD."

To read more about The Beck Factor, you can google it - there are lots of interesting articles on it.  

As for coding, I would just code the chronic pain and the associated depression as long as your doc is documenting this.

Have a great day!

Joyce


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