Effectiveness of a psychiatric pain clinic.
Medical charts were reviewed for 101 consecutive outpatients seen between January 1, 1993 and July 1, 1996 at a unidisciplinary, psychiatric pain clinic, which exists within a hospital-based, university-run, outpatient service with primary and specialty care clinics. Mean duration of pain was 7 years. Multiple sites of pain were present in 69% of patients. Eighty-eight percent fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for pain disorder. The patients had significantly fewer medical visits and diagnostic tests 6 months after attending the pain clinic, compared with 6 months before (P < 0.0001). Interventions frequently included detoxification and reduction and substitution of medication, and always included psychotherapeutic approaches, particularly support and suggestions.
Anooshian
J
J
Department of Psychiatry, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.
Streltzer
J
J
Goebert
D
D
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002908:Chronic Disease; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D018710:Pain Clinics / Q000592:standards*; D059408:Pain Management; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D016896:Treatment Outcome