The Impact of the Quantity and Quality of Social Support on Patients with Chronic Pain

AbstractPurpose of ReviewSocial support is an important yet often overlooked aspect of chronic pain management. Understanding the impact of social support on patients with chronic pain and determining if a relationship exists between a patient ’s perceived social support and their perceived quality of life is a crucial component to completely treating a pain patient. We sought to develop an intervention for patients with chronic pain that addresses the different types of social support, barriers to using social support, and ways to impr ove the quality of their social support.Recent FindingsA retrospective review of a prospectively collected database was utilized in an Outpatient Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Program with 23 patients with a chronic pain diagnosis who participated in a 3-week comprehensive pain rehabilitation program. Evaluation, intervention, and discharge were evaluated utilizing The American Chronic Pain Association ’s Quality of Life Scale and The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM). The intervention phase comprised a 45-min group session. At discharge, the occupational therapist followed up with the patient regarding the results of their social survey.SummaryOverall, the results indicated an underutilization of social support among patients with chronic pain. Out of the four questions asked on the social support survey, patients scored their use of tangible support (Q2) as the lowest. No significant positive correlation (0.27) was found bet...
Source: Current Pain and Headache Reports - Category: Neurology Source Type: research