How Is Chronic Pain Managed in Rural Australia? A Qualitative Study Exploring Rural Healthcare Professional and Consumer Experiences.
Ashley R Grant, Gill Westhorp, Amelia Mardon and 5 others
PMID 39927606WHAT IT FOUND
Rural clinicians and patients described a disconnect: doctors reported following guidelines, but patients rarely recalled education or plans.
Instead, patients reported frequent imaging, self-referred manual therapies, and difficulty accessing specialists or telehealth support.
Key findings
01All consumers accessed a GP, but only 33% accessed a multidisciplinary pain service, and many had to find services themselves.
02While clinicians reported delivering education and plans, consumers rarely described receiving these, instead reporting frequent imaging and use of treatments with questionable efficacy.
03Telehealth use was minimal despite policy changes, with consumers reporting they mostly accessed local GPs or allied health professionals and travelled for specialists.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study relied on self-report, introducing potential recall bias. The sample was small and geographically skewed, with most healthcare professionals and consumers from South Australia. Interview questions were open-ended and did not specifically probe for every guideline item, which may have led to under-reporting of certain care aspects. Healthcare professionals and consumers were not matched pairs, so direct comparisons of the same clinical encounter were not possible.
Declared interests
One author received support from various health organisations and royalties for pain books. The study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Rural Doctors Workforce Agency.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that clinicians are failing to provide education or plans. The study highlights a perception gap: clinicians reported providing these, but consumers did not recognise them as part of their care, possibly because they expect active treatments like imaging or medication.