(303) Psychological, social and physical treatment outcomes for geriatric patients with chronic non-cancer pain at a multidisciplinary pain rehabilitation center

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychological, social, and physical outcomes for geriatric (age 65-84) patients admitted to a multidisciplinary pain rehabilitation center compared to two younger patient groups (ages 21-44 and ages 45-64). Participants were 38 geriatric (60.5% female; 100% Caucasian; mean age= 70.7), 143 middle aged (74.8% female; 96.5 %Caucasian; mean age= 52.6), and 110 younger (88.2% female; 95.5% Caucasian; mean age= 34.8) patients participating in a 3 week intensive outpatient multidisciplinary pain rehabilitation program, which was based on a cognitive-behavioral model and incorporated physical reconditioning, biofeedback and relaxation training, stress management, chemical health education, activity moderation, and elimination of pain behaviors. Patients were administered self-report inventories assessing depression (Center for Epidemiological Studies- Depression; CES-D), pain-related anxiety (Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale; PASS), pain catastrophizing (Pain Catastrophizing Scale; PCS), pain severity, interference of pain and perceived control (Multidimensional Pain Inventory), and social and physical functioning (SF-36 Health Survey) at baseline, discharge, and 6 months following treatment. At baseline, nearly half of geriatric patients and over two-thirds of both younger and middle aged groups were depressed (CES-D score => 22). Geriatric patients reported less pain-related anxiety, less interference from pain, and more perceived control over pain than both age groups at baseline. At discharge, geriatric patients exhibited significantly reduced depression, pain-related anxiety, pain catastrophizing, pain severity, and interference of pain and increased perceived control, and physical and social functioning, which were maintained at 6 month follow-up. Furthermore, geriatric improvement at both discharge and 6 month follow-up was not significantly different from that of the other two groups, indicating that geriatric pain patients can benefit from multidisciplinary pain center treatment at levels equal to younger patient groups. Therefore, multidisciplinary pain treatment can improve long-term psychological, social and physical functioning for geriatric chronic pain patients.