Patient wishes to reduce pain intensity and identify the cause while doctors takes the goal in improving physical function and reduce medical effects including dependency. These contrasting treatment goals are the primary cause of disagreement between the two parties in pain therapy.
The study was pioneered by Dr. Stephen Henry, assistant professor of internal medicine at University of California, Davis. According to Medical Xpress, the pain therapy study includes 87 patients under opioid prescriptions and family medicine physicians. The patients are mostly suffering from musculoskeletal disorders while the doctors are from the two UC Davis Medical Center clinics in Sacramento, Calif.
The patients have answered questionnaires to rate their experiences and rank their goals for pain therapy immediately after their clinic visit from November 2014 and January 2016. The doctors on the other hand, independently completed questionnaires about the level of difficulty on the level of patient's clinic visit including their own ranking of the goals of patient's pain management.
From the survey conducted, nearly half of the patient ranked reducing pain intensity as their first goal for pain therapy. The second goal which was ranked by 22 percent from the patients is the diagnosis of the reasons for their pain. In contrast, improving physical function and reducing side effects of medications are the top goals of the doctors respectively.
As reported by WebMd, pain therapy is complex that includes different options such as medications, mind-body techniques, and acupuncture. Natural pain relief for example, includes lifestyle changes, physical therapy and counseling.
The top goals of patients and doctors in pain therapy are contrasting. From the 62 percent of visits, the doctor's top goal does not include the patient's first and second priorities. Furthermore, the doctors have rated 41 percent of the patient visits as difficult pertaining to challenging interactions.
Despite the disagreement in pain therapy, the results of the study reflected that patients tend to have positive relationships with their doctors. Henry and his team have then recommended pain-focused communication training for physicians. The researchers want to identify best practices for patient-doctor communications that can be incorporated to the said training.
