Coping with chronic pain can affect every aspect of a person's life and cause conflict between what their mind wants to achieve and what their body allows them to do, according to research in the December issue of the Journal of Nursing and Healthcare of Chronic Illness.
Swedish researchers carried out in-depth interviews with ten people who had experienced chronic pain for between four and 32 years and were taking part in an outpatient rehabilitation programme. Nine of the patients, who ranged from 22 to 50 with an average age of 38, were unable to work because of their pain.
"A recent research study found that chronic pain affected up to 30 per cent of adults across Europe, impacting on people's everyday lives and in many cases their ability to work" says lead author Asa Skjutar from the Karolinska Institutet.
"Although multidisciplinary rehabilitation programmes for people with chronic pain are well established in Sweden, they don't work for everyone. There can be a number of reasons for this, from failing to customise treatment to individual needs through to delayed intervention which makes people less amenable to change.
"What is clear is that many patients with chronic pain find that their needs are not being met by healthcare professionals. Previous research has found that patients' beliefs play an important role in how successful any interventions are. That is why we were keen to find out how people felt chronic pain impacted on their lives."
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