title: Evaluation of a chronic pain programme by referring physicians.
abstract: A neglected source of treatment outcome evaluation is the opinion of the referring physicians. We report on 179 patients with chronic pain who were admitted to a 6 week inpatient inter-disciplinary pain programme. A retrospective 2 page mail questionnaire accompanied by initial letters of referral was sent to the referring physicians. We hypothesized that the main reason family physicians referred patients was to establish a management plan. The physician response rate was 70%, encompassing 72% of the patients. Intra-observer reliability was tested by a second mailing 3 months later (68% response rate). Test-retest reliability, and correlations between questions were significant and are reported for: reasons for referral, the utility of the discharge summary, coping, and behavioural changes at discharge and at time of the questionnaire. This appears to be the first report of a survey of the evaluation of a pain programme by referring physicians.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Western Ontario, St. Joseph's Health Centre, London, Ont. N6A 1Y6 Canada Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, St. Joseph's Health Centre, London, Ont. N6A 1Y6 Canada.
authors.forename: Barry A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Deathe
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Helmes
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009864:Ontario; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology; D059408:Pain Management; D010380:Peer Review; D010820:Physicians; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires