Patient characteristics and quality of life among a sample of Australian chronic pain clinic attendees.
BACKGROUND
Multidisciplinary chronic pain management programs have proliferated widely in recent decades. The clinical characteristics of patients attending these clinics are becoming the subject of increased research. Recent European data suggests that patients attending these clinics report very low quality of life.


OBJECTIVE
The present study profiles an Australian population in terms of demographics, clinical characteristics and quality of life, as measured by the Short Form 36 Quality of Life Questionnaire (SF-36).


METHODS
Data were collected prospectively from consecutive patients presenting to a multidisciplinary chronic pain clinic at a major Sydney metropolitan teaching-hospital. Cross-sectional analysis of demographic and clinical characteristics and quality of life were then undertaken.


RESULTS
Descriptive analysis of demographics and clinical characteristics suggest a patient population group reporting significant pain severity and reduced quality of life. The comparison of SF-36 domain scores between clinic patients and Australian norm values indicates a greatly reduced score on all SF-36 domains for clinic patients. Pain clinic patients reported the most profound effect upon quality of life in the role physical, physical function and social function domains of the SF-36. Stepwise multiple regression indicated impaired coping ability and depressive disability as the most significant correlates of low quality of life.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients who attend chronic pain clinics are likely to report low quality of life with an inability to cope. These findings suggest that future intervention research should explore the impacts of behavioural and self-management interventions. Psychological distress and ability to cope could be used as indices of improvement.
Department of Pain Management, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia. kerrs@sesahs.nsw.gov.au
S
S
Kerr
G
G
Fairbrother
M
M
Crawford
M
M
Hogg
D
D
Fairbrother
K E
KE
Khor
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D001315:Australia; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010148:Intractable Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome