title: Improving diagnostic strategies for pain patients.
abstract: Any pain experience results from the interaction of biological and functional (namely, psychological and environmental) factors. In some cases functional factors may be primarily responsible for exacerbating and maintaining pain, therefore, the physician should be attentive to a variety of signs that may indicate a significant nonorganic component to the patient's pain. Problems in case management commonly arise when the organic signature is blurred, for pain patients are notoriously resistant to any suggestion that their pain is not purely organic in origin. Clinical experience has shown that the diagnosis and treatment of pain patients can be greatly facilitated by educating the patient about the complex nature of pain and by integrating the assessment of functional factors into the overall diagnostic work-up.
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008487:Medical History Taking; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D059408:Pain Management; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010551:Personality