Research Article

Interventional Pain Management in Multidisciplinary Chronic Pain Clinics: A Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study with One-Year Follow-Up

Table 3

Clinical characteristics of all patients, chronic pain patients with interventional pain management, and chronic pain patients without interventional pain management.

Clinical characteristics of pain All patients CP patients without IPM CP patients with IPM

%%%UF (%)

Duration (categorized)
 ≤3 months–≤1 year21827.319629.72215.810.10.006
 <1-≤2 years11013.88713.22316.520.9
 <2–≤5 years15719.612819.42920.918.5
 <5–≤10 years12315.410315.62014.416.3
 >10 years19123.914622.14532.423.6
 Total799100.0660100.0139100.017.4

pattern
 Continuous75493.462693.712892.117.00.455
 Discontinuous536.6426.3117.920.8
 Total807100.0668100.0139100.017.2

Mean (SD)Mean (SD)Mean (SD)

Intensity
 Pain on average (0–10 NRS)5.96(2.13)6.00(2.01)5.77(2.50)0.641
 Pain at its least (0–10 NRS)3.63(2.50)3.63(2.44)3.63(2.79)0.759
 Pain at its worst (0–10 NRS)7.88(2.11)8.01(1.98)7.23(2.61)0.003
 Pain right now (0–10 NRS)4.83(2.99)4.88(2.94)4.58(3.23)0.304

%%%UF (%)

 No pain141.860.986.257.1<0.001
22929.418127.84837.221.0
24431.321533.02922.511.9
29337.624938.24434.115.0
 Total780100.0651100.0129100.016.5

 Lower limb74234.459033.715238.720.5
 Dorsum and lower back41419.334319.67118.117.1
 Upper limb36316.928816.47519.120.7
 Cervical and facial region26112.122412.8379.414.20.047
 Bones/joints/muscles- unspecified894.1824.772.37.9
 Abdominal and anterior thoracic region874.0784.496.110.3
 Inguinal and pelvic region773.6533.0244.631.2
 Other1155.6975.5184.615.7
 Total2150100.01757100.2393100.018.3

Mean (SD)Mean (SD)Mean (SD)

Pain-related interference
 General activity6.90(2.82)7.04(2.71)6.20(3.26)0.015
 Mood6.25(3.28)6.37(3.21)5.64(3.58)0.054
 Walking ability6.52(3.51)6.67(3.44)5.76(3.81)0.024
work7.06(2.98)7.26(2.82)6.09(3.53)<0.001
 Relations with other people4.05(3.60)4.22(3.58)3.17(3.64)0.002
 Sleep5.64(3.80)5.72(3.81)5.20(3.74)0.087
 Enjoyment of life5.33(3.84)5.55(3.79)4.18(3.95)<0.001

%%%UF (%)

£Interference
 No interference141.860.986.357.1<0.001
 Mild22929.418027.64938.321.4
 Moderate24431.320831.93628.114.8
 Severe29337.625839.63527.311.9
 Total780100.0652100.0128100.016.4

General health
 Excellent131.6111.721.415.4
 Very good151.9121.832.220.0
 Good11714.69414.12316.519.70.082
 Fair34242.527140.87151.120.8
 Poor31739.427741.74028.812.6
 Total804100.0665100.0139100.017.3

Each row of the table includes the absolute () and relative (%) frequencies of each characteristic, the utilization frequency (%) of interventional pain management by category (UF (%)), and in some cases the mean and standard deviation (SD). Highlighted in bold are statistically significant results, at a 0.05 significance level. CP, chronic pain. IPM, interventional pain management. SD, standard deviation. value for statistical hypothesis tests comparing the subsample of CP subjects with IPM to CP subjects without IPM. Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test for categorical variables and Mann–Whitney test for numerical variables were used. Chronic pain was defined, using the IASP standard definition, as pain present with duration ≥3 months. Persistence pattern: continuous—pain present every day/ always; discontinuous—recurrent (pain present once to several times/ week); and sporadic (pain present less than once to several times/month). §Pain intensity score was categorized taking into account the Serling classification: mild (1–4), moderate (5-6), and severe pain intensity (7–10). ||Multiple pain locations were recorded for each patient. both work outside the home and housework. £Pain interference was categorized as mild (1–4), moderate (5-6), and severe pain interference (7–10).