Clinical effectiveness of a residential pain management programme – comparing a large recent sample with previously published outcome data

Objective: Observational studies using routinely collected data indicate that pain management programmes (PMPs) based on cognitive-behavioural principles are associated with clinically meaningful improvements for individuals with chronic pain. This study evaluated change across functional measures in a sample of chronic pain patients attending a 4-week residential PMP between 2006 and 2010. The findings were directly compared with published outcomes from an earlier period (1989–1998) at the same service. Methods: Participants included 760 consecutive completers of a multidisciplinary PMP. Data were collected at pre-PMP, post-PMP (1-month post-discharge) and at a 9-month follow-up session. Group-based treatment effects and the reliability and clinical significance of change across functional measures were calculated and compared across cohorts. Results: Effect sizes for the recent cohort ranged from small to medium (.43–.67) for pain and physical functioning outcomes to large (.90–1.12) for psychological outcomes at post-treatment ( n = 654), and from small (.30–.51) to medium (.58–.71) at 9-month follow-up ( n = 493). Clinically significant gains on pain and psychological measures were achieved by 19–55% of patients at post-treatment and 17–44% at follow-up. Comparisons with the earlier cohort showed significantly stronger post-treatment outcomes but differences at follow-up were less marked. Discussion: These results add to the evidence base supporting the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT)-based pain management interventions. There were significantly larger gains in patient functioning in the recent dataset, suggesting improved programme delivery. But effects were less marked in the longer term, indicating a need for improvements in therapeutic models and related methods to promote meaningful and lasting changes.