The persistence of psychological distress while waiting for pain management

Waiting lists for pain management services globally are extensive, exacerbating the burden of chronic pain for patients and service providers. This study aimed to examine the psychological profiles of people living with chronic pain (PLwCP) during long treatment delay and use appropriate inferential analyses of waitlist data to identify potential demographic characteristics presenting at-risk subgroups.

A longitudinal survey design tracked measures of psychological wellbeing (pain self-efficacy, depression, anxiety and pain catastrophizing) in PLwCP (N = 211, Males = 50, Females = 161) on the waitlist for pain management, in a major regional NHS hospital in the Southeast of the UK. Measures were collected at baseline, three-months and six-months of waiting.

Regression and ANOVA models revealed that clinically significant levels of depression, anxiety, pain catastrophizing and pain self-efficacy remained high throughout the waiting period, indicating sustained psychological distress. While pain self-efficacy significantly increased over time and though the effect size was small, levels were in the clinically severe range throughout the wait-time, thus requiring intervention. Older and younger adults showed different phenotypical patterns of psychosocial wellbeing whilst waiting.

These findings demonstrate that clinical levels of psychological distress are persistent and entrenched throughout the waitlist for pain management. PLwCP remain an at-risk population in significant need of earlier support. Prehabilitation offers a prospective framework through which early intervention can be achieved. Subgroups identified as greater risk are younger individuals and those with worse depression, anxiety, pain catastrophizing and/or pain self-efficacy upon referral. These factors present stratification targets and direction of where prehabilitation is most urgently required. These findings have clear implications to improve pain practice.