Pain clinic attenders: an audit

Area of Science:

• Pain Medicine
• Clinical Auditing

Background:

• Chronic pain significantly impacts daily life.
• Multidisciplinary pain clinics offer comprehensive patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To audit the initial patient referrals to a new Multidisciplinary Pain Clinic.
• To characterize the demographic and clinical profiles of patients seeking pain management.

Main Methods:

• Audit of 135 consecutive referrals to a new Multidisciplinary Pain Clinic.
• Collection of demographic data, pain history, and functional impairment.
• Analysis of diagnoses, pain duration, prior treatments, and social impact.

Main Results:

• Chronic Non-Malignant Pain was the most common diagnosis.
• Patients experienced an average of 7 years of pain, with 1.95 surgeries and 3.5 medications.
• Significant occupational, social, and recreational functioning impairments were observed.
• Women were twice as affected as men, across all socioeconomic strata.

Conclusions:

• The patient profile aligns with established data from other chronic pain cohorts.
• The findings highlight the need for specialized multidisciplinary care for chronic pain patients.
• The clinic serves a diverse population with complex, long-standing pain conditions.