• Jan-Rickard Norrefalk, Jan Ekholm, and Kristian Borg.
• Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Rehabilitation, Medicine, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. norrefalk@hotmail.com
• J Rehabil Med. 2006 Mar 1; 38 (2): 87-92.

BackgroundIt is often suggested that immigrants with long-term pain do not benefit from rehabilitation to the same extent as native Swedish patients. In this study, an 8-week rehabilitation programme was evaluated according to its adaptation for immigrants.ObjectivesTo establish whether there is a difference between immigrants and native Swedes concerning: (i) return-to-work, the patients' own estimation and their actual ability; (ii) higher level of activity; (iii) reduction in pain and analgesic use.PatientsA total of 67 patients with persistent non-malignant pain completed the rehabilitation programme. Thirty (45%) of the patients were immigrants.MethodsA 1- and a 3-year follow-up were made to compare the outcome between the 2 groups.ResultsThere was no significant difference in the return-to-work rate between immigrants and native Swedes. However, the patients' prediction of their ability to return to work was higher among the non-immigrants. The level of activity was lower and pain intensity and use of analgesics were higher among the immigrants than the non-immigrants.ConclusionImmigrants can benefit from a rehabilitation programme to the same extent as native Swedes concerning return-to-work rate, but seem to have limitations in assimilating the other objectives of the programme.

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