NEW YORK, Jun 23 (Reuters Health) - Treatments designed to help people with
chronic pain feel that they have control over their pain are effective, and can
lead to better coping strategies and less impairment, according to a new study.
"Pain beliefs are important...because they are related to other variables
such as depression, pain levels, use of coping strategies, and general
functioning," Dr. Amy S. Badura of Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, and
colleagues explain.
People who believe that they have personal control over their pain fare
better than those that attribute their pain levels to fate, luck, or chance, the
researchers write in the June issue of the Archives of Physical Medicine and
Rehabilitation.
Putting it another way, those who believe that control over their pain lies
within themselves--rather than with some outside force--cope better with their
pain, are less impaired, and have better overall functioning.
Badura and colleagues surveyed patients about their beliefs regarding
control of their pain before and after a 40 hour, 4-week outpatient pain
management program. Of the 73 participants, 44 were female and 29 male. The
program was designed to reduce use of narcotic pain medications, and to
encourage patients to establish daily exercise routines, learn relaxation and
coping skills and participate in cognitive-behavioral therapy.
This treatment "simultaneously increased patient perceptions of internal
control and decreased perceptions of external control," the researchers report.
In addition, patients appeared to become more aware of their beliefs during
treatment.
"This study supports the efficacy of chronic pain management centers in
altering patient beliefs about pain," Badura and colleagues conclude. "The
ability to increase patients' self-efficacy in their control over pain and to
decrease external attributions are essential to successful pain management."
