Chronic myofascial pain: knowledge of diagnosis and satisfaction with treatment.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the relation between pain patients' knowledge of pain diagnosis and their satisfaction with pain treatment. It was hypothesized that myofascial pain (MP) patients would be less knowledgeable regarding their diagnosis and less satisfied with the results of pain treatment.


METHODS
Cross-sectional.


METHODS
Multidisciplinary pain clinic.


METHODS
Patients (n=65) were divided into two groups after multidisciplinary assessment: MP patients (n=30) and a mixed group of chronic pain patients (MCP) (n=35) with neurologic or rheumatologic disorders.


METHODS
Patient self-report of their knowledge of pain diagnosis and scores on standardized measures of pain intensity, depressive symptoms, and functional disability.


RESULTS
MP patients were significantly less accurate in identifying their diagnosis and the source of their pain and were more likely to believe they suffered a physiologic disturbance "more serious and different" than their physicians had suggested. MP patients were also significantly more dissatisfied with the treatment for pain by physicians and reported particular dissatisfaction with the informational aspects of physician-patient communication. No group differences were obtained for measures of pain severity, depression, disability, pain duration, or compensation/litigation status.


CONCLUSIONS
MP patients appear to have less accurate beliefs regarding their pain symptoms and express more dissatisfaction with physician efforts to treat their pain. These findings emphasize the importance of patient education as a component of chronic pain intervention, particularly for MP patients.
Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor 48109, USA.
R S
RS
Roth
K
K
Horowitz
J E
JE
Bachman
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000517:prevention & control; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009209:Myofascial Pain Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014342:Truth Disclosure