Course of disability reduction during a pain rehabilitation program: a prospective clinical study

The aim of this study was to analyze the course of reduction of disability during a pain rehabilitation program (PRP) and factors influencing this course. A prospective cohort study was carried out. All patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain treated in a PRP between March 2010 and December 2010 were eligible for this study. All patients were treated at a University-based rehabilitation center and received an outpatient multidisciplinary PRP. Main outcome measures, Pain Disability Index (PDI), and average pain measured with a numeric rating scale were measured every 2 weeks during the PRP. To analyze the course of disability, a linear mixed-effect model was applied. One hundred and twenty-eight patients participated in the study, of whom 20% dropped out during the PRP. Initial PDI (β=0.8), treatment week (β=-0.2), treatment week squared (β=0.03), average pain (β=2.3), and interaction between initial PDI and treatment week (β=-0.02) influenced the course of disability during PRP. Disability reduces during the PRP. Initial PDI, treatment week, average pain, and interaction between initial PDI and treatment week influence the course of disability reduction during the PRP. These results could aid in predicting the required duration of a PRP at the start.