Author(s)

Teik G. Tay, Andrea L. Willcocks, Judy F. Chen, Grazyna Jastrzab, Kok E. Khor

Department Pain Management, Level 1 McNevin-Dickson Building, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW Australia.

Background: The long-term outcomes of patients with chronic pain treated in a multidisciplinary pain management center remain variable. Objective: This study aims to evaluate the changes in outcomes of patient’s self-reported pain, psychosocial status, health related quality of life and gender differences following treatment in amultidisciplinary pain management centre. Design: A prospective longitudinal cross-sectional study uses questionnaires. Treatment Setting: A pragmatic and individualized patient centered approach in a tertiary level multidisciplinary pain management center. Subjects: Patients with chronic pain referred to the centre from 2004-2010. Outcome Measures: Pain Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), Pain Temporal Description (1 - 6), Pain Self- Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ), Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) and Short Form-36 (SF- 36). Follow-up questionnaires were sent at 6 and 12 months after initial assessment. Results: Mean duration of baseline chronic pain was 8.1 years and 61% of chronic pains were involving the musculoskeletal system. At 6 and 12 month follow-ups, 273 and 180 participants had been surveyed respectively. At 6-month follow-up, there were significant improvements on pain intensity (Cohen’s d = 0.8), pain self-efficacy (Cohen’s d = 0.47), depression and stress scores (Cohen’s d = 0.16) and six out of eight domains of SF-36 (Cohen’s d = 0.2 - 0.4). At 12-month follow-up, improvements were maintained on pain intensity, self-efficacy and three out of eight domains of SF-36. There were distinctive pre- and post-treatment gender differences in these outcomes and overall females showed better short- and long-term outcomes than males. Conclusion: Multidisciplinary pain management using an individualized patient centered approach remains an effective treatment for chronic pain in both the short- (6 month) and long-term (12 month). The distinctive pre- and post-treatment gender differences particularly in the psychological outcomes, suggest that it may be beneficial to further delineate and better manage vulnerable patient subgroups.

Multidisciplinary, Pain Management Center, Quality of Life, Chronic Pain, Self-Efficacy, Gender, Long-Term Outcome

G. Tay, T. , L. Willcocks, A. , F. Chen, J. , Jastrzab, G. and Khor, K. (2014) A Descriptive Longitudinal Study of Chronic Pain Outcomes and Gender Differences in a Multidisciplinary Pain Management Centre. Pain Studies and Treatment, 2, 56-69. doi: 10.4236/pst.2014.22010.