Sex and Age Group Focus on Outcomes after Multimodal Rehabilitation for Patients with Chronic Pain in Northern Sweden.
Linda Spinord, Gunilla Stenberg, Ann-Charlotte Kassberg and 1 others
PMID 36098224WHAT IT FOUND
Multimodal rehabilitation improved pain and emotional health for all groups, but men’s gains faded by one year while women’s persisted.
Social support decreased for everyone, suggesting patients became more independent. Clinicians should plan post-programme support specifically for men to sustain their results.
Key findings
01Men showed significant improvements immediately after the programme, but many outcomes deteriorated by the one-year follow-up, whereas women’s improvements persisted.
02Social support scores decreased significantly for both women and men at the one-year follow-up, which the authors interpret as patients becoming more independent.
03All age groups improved in pain intensity and emotional functioning, but the youngest group (18–30 years) showed the largest decrease in pain severity.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study lacked a control group, so it is impossible to determine if the outcomes were due to the MMRP or natural variation over time. Attrition was high at the 1-year follow-up (67% response rate), and responders had better baseline mental health than non-responders, which may bias the long-term results positively. The participants were referred to specialist clinics and represented severe cases, limiting the generalisability of the findings to all patients with chronic pain. The multimodal nature of the intervention means the specific contribution of individual therapies (e.g., physiotherapy vs. psychology) cannot be separated.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the decrease in social support scores as a negative outcome or a failure of the programme. The authors suggest this reflects patients becoming more independent and requiring less solicitude from family members, which is a positive shift in coping.