The Initial Perceived Wellness of Patients with Chronic Pain and the Effect of Multimodal Treatment on Perceived Wellness
Date
1998-03
Authors
Brown, Jennifer L.
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Abstract
Background and Purpose: Assessment of wellness perceptions may be useful to obtain qualitative information of the health status of individuals with a specific diseased condition. The problem of chronic pain is evident in its prevalence, lack of successful outcomes due to a lack of understanding of the nature of chronic pain, and subsequent high costs. The purpose of this research was to identify the initial wellness perceptions of subjects referred for treatment of chronic pain and to determine the effect of multimodal treatment intervention on perceived wellness.
Subjects: The population studied was a convenience sample of 24 patients diagnosed with chronic pain referred for treatment to pain management programs or to an out-patient physical therapy clinic.
Methods: The Perceived Wellness Survey (PWS) was administered, following signed consent, to patients both pre- and post-treatment, regardless of program completion status. Information regarding subject variables, including age, gender, number of visits, treatment facility, anatomical source of chronic pain, program completion status, and initial pain level, was collected from patient charts. The data were analyzed using t-tests for paired samples to compare perceived wellness pre- and post-treatment, regression analysis to examine if there was a predictive relationship between PWS scores or pain level and number of visits, and Pearson product moment correlation coefficients to determine if there was a relationship between perceived wellness and initial pain level. Also, subscale means for subjects completing treatment versus subjects not completing treatment were visually examined.
Results: Initial PWS scores of a chronic pain population were lower than scores of a normal population. No significant change in PWS scores was observed between pre- and posttreatment PWS scores. There was no predictive relationship between perceived wellness or initial pain level and number of visits and a relationship was identified between perceived wellness and initial pain level. PWS subscale means of subjects who did not complete treatment were lower in all dimensions except the physical dimension compared to subjects who did complete treatment.
Discussion and Conclusion: The literature is supportive of the use of health perceptions in designing treatment and predicting outcomes. While the results of this study are inconclusive, it is suggested that future research improving on the limitations of the present study be conducted to further explore the use of perceived wellness in the assessment of patients with chronic pain.
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Keywords
chronic pain, combined modality therapy, pain treatment, health attitudes, adjuvant treatment
Citation
Brown, J. L. (1998). The initial perceived wellness of patients with chronic pain and the effect of multimodal treatment on perceived wellness (Unpublished thesis). Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.