[Pain school. Therapeutic offers to patients with fibromyalgia and other non-malignant pain problems]

A prospective study of 71 patients with fibromyalgia (Yunus 1981 criteria) experience improved quality of life and management of pain after treatment at a pain school for one year. There was no significant improvement in total pain score (VAS) and sickness impact profile (SIP) for these patients compared with 71 paired controls with fibromyalgia matched by age and sex. The need for health care services was reduced and more patients from the pain school group returned to work. The main programme in the pain school classes consisted of information on chronic, non-malignant pain, psychomotoric physiotherapy and group therapy. The pupils evaluated all three items as important, with group dynamics as most beneficial. Good results have also been achieved in other chronic, non-malignant patients. Organized and structural pain management programmes in pain school classes have a favourable cost benefit profile and we recommend more use of such classes in the Norwegian health care system.