Pain in women: Presenting characteristics of women referred to a multidisciplinary pain management centre for diverse chronic pain conditions

Abstract

The objective was to assess the relationship between presenting characteristics and pain related disability in women referred to a multidisciplinary pain management centre. Common chronic pain conditions in women referred to the Wasser Pain Management Centre (WPMC), a hospital based outpatient multidisciplinary tertiary treatment centre, were determined from the database system. Charts of consecutive patients identified in the different pain groups were reviewed to confirm diagnosis and verify completeness of information. A convenience sample of 20 cases per group was chosen for initial chart audit. At entry to the WPMC patient's completed questionnaires including: McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ), Pain Disability Index (PDI), coping level (0-6), age of pain onset, drug addiction, abuse (sexual, physical and/or emotional). Drug addiction and disability coverage was determined from clinical records. Six common chronic pain conditions were identified from the WPMC database included: pelvic pain, pelvic pain with drug addiction, fibromyalgia, undiagnosed total body pain, facial pain and headache. Pain scores were moderate (20-35) for most groups, except for FM (42.4) and UTBP (41.7) groups, which were severe. A high percentage of patients in these two groups were receiving some form of disability compensation. Most cases did not have a drug addiction component except for the PP with drug addiction (100%) and UTBP (85%) groups. These groups were also the only groups that had a high percentage of abuse (75% for both). Disability scores were higher for patients reporting higher pain intensity. Most indicated disability in a variety of aspects whereas disability in the PP and FP groups was domain specific. Women with diverse chronic pain conditions attending a multidisciplinary CNCP reported similar levels of pain intensity but varying rates of drug abuse/addiction, abuse and pain related disability. Further assessments are needed to understand how complex backgrounds of patients with complex chronic disease conditions relate to subsequent pain related disability and disability coverage.