A longitudinal analysis on pain treatment satisfaction among Chinese patients with chronic pain: predictors and association with medical adherence, disability, and quality of life

• Published in: Quality of life research Vol. 24; no. 9; pp. 2087 - 2097
• Main Authors: Wong, W. S., Chow, Y. F., Chen, P. P., Wong, S., Fielding, R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer 01.09.2015; Springer International Publishing; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Anesthesiology; Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Brief Communication; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Catastrophization - psychology; Chronic pain; Chronic Pain - drug therapy; Chronic Pain - psychology; CLINICAL AND POLICY APPLICATIONS; Communication; Compliance; Depressive Disorder; Disability Evaluation; Female; Health care; Hong Kong; Hospitals; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical personnel; Medication Adherence - psychology; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Pain; Pain management; Pain Management - psychology; Pain Measurement; Patient Satisfaction; Psychological aspects; Public Health; Quality of life; Quality of Life - psychology; Quality of Life Research; Quantitative psychology; Questionnaires; Sociology; Young Adult; Hong Kong; China; Chinese; Pain treatment satisfaction; Chronic pain; Medical adherence; Quality of life
• ISSN: 0962-9343; 1573-2649
• DOI: 10.1007/s11136-015-0955-1

Background Patient satisfaction research in chronic pain treatment is scarce internationally and is nonexistent in Chinese communities like Hong Kong. This longitudinal study examined the relationships between medical adherence, pain treatment satisfaction, disability, and quality of life (QoL) in a sample of Chinese patients with chronic pain. Methods A total of 178 patients with chronic pain were assessed at baseline, 3 and 6 months following baseline. Medical adherence and pain treatment satisfaction were assessed by the Participant Compliance Reporting Scale and the Pain Treatment Satisfaction Scale (PTSS), respectively. QoL, depression, pain catastrophizing, and pain-related fear were assessed using SF-12, the depression subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-D), the Pain Catastrophizing Scale, and the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia, respectively. Linear mixed effects models (LME) were fitted to identify predictors of pain treatment satisfaction, medical adherence, and QoL. Results Results of univariate LME analyses showed significant quadratic time effects on four PTSS scores and significant associations between disability grade and PTSS scores (all p < 0.05). Medical adherence was not significantly associated with satisfaction regarding pain medication (model 1). Satisfaction with medication characteristics emerged as an independent predictor of medical adherence (model 2: std β = —0.11, P < 0.05) after controlling for sociodemographic and pain variables. Neither medical adherence nor pain treatment satisfaction predicted QoL outcomes (models 3 and 4). Conclusions Distinct trajectories in pain treatment satisfaction were displayed in the current sample of Chinese patients with different disability grading chronic pain. Within pain treatment, only medication characteristics significantly impacted patients' medical adherence.