• Ronit Y Lyon and Nathaniel M Schuster.
• Division of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
• Pain Med. 2023 Feb 1; 24 (2): 188196188-196.

ObjectiveTo determine, among patients with chronic pain who had received pain physician referral to pain psychology, the rate of establishing care and factors related to establishing care with pain psychology.DesignRetrospective study.SettingAcademic tertiary care center.SubjectsPatients from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Center for Pain Medicine.MethodsThis was an institutional review board-approved, retrospective study of 150 consecutive referrals of unique patients from UCSD Pain Medicine to UCSD Pain Psychology.ResultsOf 150 patients referred to pain psychology, 74 (49.3%) established care with pain psychology. Of 98 patients who had previously seen mental health services, 58 established care with pain psychology (59.2%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 49% to 69%), whereas of 52 patients who had not previously seen mental health services, 16 established care with pain psychology (30.8%; 95% CI: 18% to 43%) (odds ratio [OR] 3.26; 95% CI: 1.60 to 6.66). In the patient subset with depression and/or anxiety, of 82 patients who had previously seen mental health services, 47 established care with pain psychology (57.3%; 95% CI: 47% to 68%), whereas of 20 patients who had not previously seen mental health services, three established care with pain psychology (15%; 95% CI: -1% to 31%) (OR 7.61; 95% CI: 2.07 to 28.01). Of 96 patients referred for general pain psychology evaluations, 43 established care (45%; 95% CI: 35% to 55%), whereas of 38 patients referred for preprocedural evaluation for an implantable device, 24 established care (63%; 95% CI: 48% to 78%).ConclusionPatients are significantly more likely to establish care with pain psychology if they have previously seen a mental health professional. This was even more marked among the patient subset with a history of depression and/or anxiety who had engaged in mental health services than among those with a history of depression and/or anxiety who had not engaged in mental health services. Whether referral was for general psychological evaluation or preprocedural evaluation for an implantable device did not significantly influence whether patients established care. Targeted interventions are needed to improve the likelihood of patients engaging with pain psychology services.© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

12 keywords...

hide…