Psychological Treatments for Non-Specific Chronic Pain [Internet]

Excerpt

The purpose of this systematic review is to provide an overview of the effect of psychological treatment on pain and function for people with chronic pain conditions.

We identified six systematic reviews of psychological treatment of people with chronic pain. Based on our synthesis of the results and assessment of the quality of the evidence, we can draw the following conclusions:

1. Psychological treatment showed small to moderate effect on pain.

2. Psychological treatment showed small effect on function.

3. Psychological treatment in combination with other treatment showed small effect on pain

4. The evidence of psychological treatment on return-to-work is inconclusive.

5. Psychological treatment showed greater effect for persons with chronic low back pain, other chronic pain than for persons with fibromyalgia.

The quality of the evidence was moderate to low after assessment. There is a need to conduct well-designed studies on return-to-work. Furthermore research should identify the effect for other chronic pain populations that may benefit from psychological treatment.

Keywords: Psychological Techniques; Chronic Pain; Cognitive Therapy; Behavior Therapy; Pain; Return to Work; Functioning; interdisciplinary intervention; psychological treatment.