• Christine M Gagnon, Steven P Stanos, Geke van der Ende, Lynn R Rader, and R Norman Harden.
• Center for Pain Management, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago 60611, USA. cgagnon@ric.org
• Pain Pract. 2013 Apr 1;13(4):282-8.

Objectives Assess the efficacy of an outpatient-based interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation program for patients with active workers compensation claims.Patients Data were available for 101 patients, primarily with chronic low back pain (75%), who participated in the program.MethodsTreatment included a 4-week (Monday to Friday), 8-hours/day graded progressive program that included individual and group therapies (pain psychology, physical therapy, occupational therapy, relaxation training/biofeedback, aerobic conditioning, pool therapy, vocational counseling, patient education and medical management). Outcome measures included program completion status, release-to-work status, return-to-work status, total scores on the Beck depression inventory, state-trait anxiety inventory, pain catastrophizing scale, and the McGill pain questionnaire visual analogue scale (MPQ VAS). The majority of the patients (65%) graduated from the program. Pre-postoutcome data were available for those who graduated from the program. For noncompleters, last obtained MPQ VAS was compared with their initial MPQ VAS scores.ResultsOf those completing the program, most patients (91%)were released to return to work; with 80% released to full-time status and 11% released to gradual return. Approximately half (49%) of the program completers returned to work. Paired-samples t-tests showed that program completers had significant reductions in depression (P = 0.000), pain-related catastrophizing (P = 0.033), and pain intensity (P = 0.000), but not in anxiety (P = 0.098). Interestingly, the last obtained (at early discharge/withdrawal) pain intensity scores (M = 70.33) were higher than at baseline (M = 61.20) in the noncompleters. This difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.127) but may be clinically meaningful.Discussion Our results support the efficacy of an outpatient-based 4-week interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation program in decreasing emotional distress, reducing pain intensity, and improving return-to-work status in the majority of completers in this challenging population. Patients reporting increased pain at discharge or those discharged early may have been due to operant factors.© 2012 The Authors. Pain Practice © 2012 World Institute of Pain.

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