Pain research & management : the journal of the Canadian Pain Society = journal de la société canadienne pour le traitement de la douleur
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To measure chronic pain patient volumes seen in primary care practice; to determine what medications physicians choose for the treatment of moderate to severe chronic pain; to identify barriers to the use of opioids in the treatment of chronic pain; and to assess physicians' attitudes toward the current management of chronic pain in Canada. ⋯ Even among physicians experienced in chronic pain treatment, there is a reluctance to use opioids for severe nonmalignant pain. One-half of the survey participants believed that there was a need for improved physician education in pain management, including the use of opioids.
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Whiplash, a common injury following motor vehicle crashes, is associated with high costs and a prognosis that is variable and difficult to predict. In this paper, we review findings from the Quebec cohort epidemiological study on predictive factors of recovery from whiplash injury after a motor vehicle crash. We formed a population-based incident cohort of all 4,759 individuals who sustained a whiplash injury resulting from a motor vehicle crash in the province of Québec, Canada, in 1987, and followed these patients for up to seven years. ⋯ In contrast, using the Quebec classification of signs and symptoms, the median recovery time varied from 17 to 123 days. We conclude that several socio-demographic and crash-related factors, as well as several signs and symptoms, including a combination of specific musculoskeletal and neurological ones that whiplash patients present with, are predictive of a longer recovery period. These patients should be targeted for an early intervention programme aimed at managing whiplash patients with a poor prognosis.