The patient-provider relationship in chronic pain care: providers' perspectives.

BACKGROUND: Pain is the most commonly reported symptom in primary care and is a leading cause of disability. Primary care providers (PCPs) face numerous challenges in caring for patients with chronic pain including communication and relational difficulties. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to elicit providers' perspectives on their experiences in caring for patients with chronic pain. DESIGN: The design used was a qualitative study using open-ended, in-depth interviews. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty providers (10 men, 10 women) from five different clinics were interviewed at the Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center. RESULTS: Three broad themes emerged from the analysis: 1) providers emphasized the importance of the patient-provider relationship, asserting that productive relationships with patients are essential for good pain care; 2) providers detailed difficulties they encounter when caring for patients with chronic pain, including feeling pressured to treat with opioids, believability of patients' reports of pain, worries about secondary gain/diversion, and "abusive" or "difficult" patients; and 3) providers described the emotional toll they sometimes felt with chronic pain care, including feeling frustrated, ungratified, and guilty. FINDINGS: Findings were interpreted within a model of patient-centered care. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical implications of these findings are two-fold. First, PCPs' needs cannot be ignored when considering pain care. PCPs need support, both instrumental and emotional, as they care for patients with chronic pain. Second, improving PCPs' patient-centered communication skills-including demonstrating empathy and encouraging shared decision-making-holds promise for alleviating some of the strain and burden reported by providers, ultimately leading to improved patient care.

Self-management support and communication from nurse care managers compared with primary care physicians: a focus group study of patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain.

Pain is a critical health problem, with over half of Americans suffering from chronic or recurrent pain. Many patients also experience comorbid depression. Although numerous self-management interventions have been implemented in an effort to improve pain outcomes, little attention has been devoted to the role of the provider of these services, typically a nurse care manager (NCM). Given the robust literature pointing to a link between physician-patient communication and patient outcomes, NCM-patient communication merits closer examination. This paper reports chronic pain patients' perceptions of the communication with NCMs in a pain self-management trial and patients' perceptions of the communication they experienced in primary care. Eighteen patients suffering from chronic musculoskeletal pain and depression participated in four focus groups designed to ascertain their perceptions of the intervention. A key emergent theme from these focus groups was the contrast in patients' perceptions of the communication with their primary care physicians versus with the NCMs. Patients reported feeling supported, encouraged, and listened to by their NCMs, whereas they tended to be dissatisfied with their primary care physicians, citing issues such as lack of continuity of care, poor listening skills, and under- or overprescribing of medication. The results of this study underscore the importance of the NCM, particularly for patients with chronic conditions such as pain.

Barriers and facilitators to chronic pain self-management: a qualitative study of primary care patients with comorbid musculoskeletal pain and depression.

OBJECTIVE: To identify barriers and facilitators to self-management of chronic musculoskeletal pain among patients with comorbid pain and depression. DESIGN: A qualitative study using focus group methodology. SETTING: Veteran Affairs (VA) and University primary care clinics. PATIENTS: Recruited after participation in a clinical trial. INTERVENTION: The Stepped Care for Affective Disorders and Musculoskeletal Pain (SCAMP) trial tested an intervention of optimized antidepressant therapy combined with a pain self-management program versus usual care for primary care patients with comorbid chronic pain and depression. OUTCOME MEASURES: Thematic content analysis from focus group data was used to identify patient-perceived barriers and facilitators to self-management of chronic musculoskeletal pain. RESULTS: Patients (N = 18) were 27 to 84 years old (M = 54.8), 61% women, 72% white, and 22% black. Barriers to pain self-management included: 1) lack of support from friends and family; 2) limited resources (e.g., transportation, financial); 3) depression; 4) ineffectiveness of pain-relief strategies; 5) time constraints and other life priorities; 6) avoiding activity because of fear of pain exacerbation; 7) lack of tailoring strategies to meet personal needs; 8) not being able to maintain the use of strategies after study completion; 9) physical limitations; and 10) difficult patient-physician interactions. Facilitators to improve pain self-management included 1) encouragement from nurse care managers; 2) improving depression with treatment; 3) supportive family and friends; and 4) providing a menu of different self-management strategies to use. CONCLUSIONS: Future research is needed to confirm these findings and to design interventions that capitalize on the facilitators identified while at the same time addressing the barriers to pain self-management.