Occupational therapists' assessments of adults with long-term pain: the Swedish experience

The purposes of this study were to describe the needs for occupational therapy among people of working age with long-term pain, and to describe treatment interventions based on these assessments. Occupational therapists working in primary health care and/or with special interest in pain management (n=109) assessed 113 people aged 18-58 years with long-term pain with the Occupational Therapy Needs Assessment--Pain (OTNA--P) questionnaire. The occupational therapists recommended treatment interventions where appropriate. The results generated categories of needs that have implications for interventions: 1) need for patient education, 2) needs due to limitations in activity performance, 3) needs due to patient's discouragement, 4) need as a result of patient's dependency and 5) needs related to work. The suggested interventions focused on increased knowledge of how to handle daily occupations, mainly categorized as education and stress management' and behavioural' interventions. Significant correlations were found between the assessed needs and the suggested interventions. The results of this study could assist in developing guidelines for practitioners working in occupational therapy pain management programmes. It is recommended that further research is done on the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions with patients with long-term pain.