[Group treatment of chronic pain patients in a general medical practice setting.]

An outpatient treatment programme for pain control was applied in 25 chronic pain patients in three general medical practices, supervised by a medical psychologist as a group therapist. The patients has been suffering from headaches, migraines, cervical pain, shoulder and arm pain, and low back pain for at least 6 months. A sample of 20 patients with the same disorders served as a control group which waiting for treatment. The programme consisted in training in progressive muscle relaxation, several attention-related techniques, and cognitive restructuring and aimed at an improvement in self-control and aimed at an improvement in self-control strategies. A pain diary and questionnaires on trait anxiety, depression and general psychophysiological complaints were used to evaluate the outcome. In a 6 month follow-up, pain intensity was only reduced in the subjects (9 out of 25) who were still following the treatment regimen. Nonetheless, all the subjects treated showed improvements in their average scores for trait anxiety, depression and symptoms complaints compared with the untreated controls. Our results indicate a long-term improvement in well-being as a result of the treatment. Treatment adherence seems to be the most important factor in the maintenance of long-term reduction of pain intensity.