Adaptations to pain rehabilitation programmes for non-native patients with chronic pain.
OBJECTIVE
(i) To determine whether adaptations for non-native patients have been implemented in pain rehabilitation programmes; (ii) to determine whether characteristics of the rehabilitation institute are related to having adaptations for non-native patients in place.


METHODS
Rehabilitation institutes and rehabilitation departments of general hospitals in The Netherlands who offer a pain rehabilitation programme.


METHODS
A questionnaire was handed over in person or by e-mail to the rehabilitation physicians of the participating institutes. Twenty-seven (90%) questionnaires were returned. The questionnaire concerned programme adaptations and institute characteristics. The data were analysed by χ(2) tests or Fischer's exact tests and logistic regression analysis.


RESULTS
Twelve institutes (44.4%) reported having adaptations in place for non-native patients in their pain rehabilitation programme. The most common adaptations were as follows: increased number of consultations (25.9% of the institutes); longer consultations (25.9%) and education for employees regarding cultural competency (11.1%). Institutes which treated a high percentage (≥11%) of non-native patients had implemented significantly more frequently adaptations to their rehabilitation programme (p = 0.04). The number of adaptations was neither associated with the proportion of non-native citizens in the local population nor with the number of the institutes' employees.


CONCLUSIONS
Less than half of the institutes had implemented one or more programme adaptations for non-native patients. Institutes which had made adaptations to their rehabilitation programme treated more non-native patients.
Reade, Centre for Rehabilitation and Rheumatology (formerly Jan van Breemen Institute), Amsterdam The Netherlands. m.sloots@reade.nl
Maurits
M
Sloots
Jos H M
JH
Dekker
Edien A C
EA
Bartels
Jan Henricus
JH
Geertzen
Joost
J
Dekker
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D005260:Female; D006284:Health Plan Implementation; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008297:Male; D054525:Minority Health; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009426:Netherlands; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012047:Rehabilitation Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome