Do pain characteristics guide selection for multimodal pain rehabilitation?

Objective: To determine whether self-reported pain measures are associated with selection for multimodal or multidisciplinary rehabilitation (MMR) and whether this selection is influenced by sex.

Design: Cross-sectional cohort study.

Subjects: A total of 1,226 women and 464 men with chronic pain conditions from 2 university hospitals.

Methods: Drawing from the Swedish Quality Registry for Pain Rehabilitation (SQRP), data on pain, psychological symptoms, function, health, and activity/participation were collected. Multiple logistic regression was used to investigate association of pain measures with selection for MMR (no/yes) after multidisciplinary assessment. Covariates were: age, educational level, anxiety, depression, working status, and several pain measures.

Results: High pain intensity in the previous week (odds ratio (OR) 0.92; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.86-0.99) and high pain severity (Multidimensional Pain Inventory) (OR 0.83; 95% CI 0.74-0.95) were negatively associated with selection for MMR, whereas higher number of pain quadrants was positively associated with selection for MMR. Similar results were obtained for women, but none of the measures was predictive for men.

Conclusion: This practice-based study showed that higher scores on self-reported pain were not associated with selection for MMR, and in women there was a negative association for higher pain intensity and pain severity. Thus, other factors than pain determine whether patients are selected for MMR.