ArticleBMC medical education2015
Examining influential factors in providers' chronic pain treatment decisions: a comparison of physicians and medical students.
Article in BMC medical education, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pharmacological Augmentation in Unipolar Depression: A Guide to the Guidelines.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2020Pooled it
- Trial
- Current state of research and future developments of artificial intelligence in pain diagnosis and treatment.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Review
- Predictors of Success for 60-Day Peripheral Nerve Stimulation Used for Treatment of Chronic Shoulder Pain: A Multicenter Retrospective Chart Review.American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitation · 2026Article
- FDA-Regulated Clinical Trials vs. Real-World Data: How to Bridge the Gap in Pain Research.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- What are medical students taught about persistent physical symptoms? A scoping review of the literature.BMC medical education · 2024Article
- Effects of interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation programs on neuropathic and non-neuropathic chronic pain conditions - a registry-based cohort study from Swedish Quality Registry for Pain Rehabilitation (SQRP).BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2023Article
- "Give My Daughter the Shot!": A Content Analysis of the Depiction of Patients with Cancer Pain and Their Management in Hollywood Films.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2022Review
- Popcorn in the pain clinic: A content analysis of the depiction of patients with chronic pain and their management in motion pictures.Canadian journal of pain = Revue canadienne de la douleur · 2022Article
- ICD-10-Coding of Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms and Somatoform Disorders-A Survey With German GPs.Frontiers in medicine · 2021Article
- What influences chronic pain management? A best-worst scaling experiment with final year medical students and general practitioners.British journal of pain · 2019Article
- The influence of patient race, sex, pain-related body postures, and anxiety status on pain management: a virtual human technology investigation.Journal of pain research · 2019Article
- Pain Intensity And Attribution Mediate The Impact Of Patient Weight And Gender On Activity Recommendations For Chronic Pain.Journal of pain research · 2019Article
- Healthcare Providers' Knowledge and Current Practice of Pain Assessment and Management: How Much Progress Have We Made?Pain research & management · 2016Article
- Pain Behaviors and Pharmacological Pain Management Among Newly Admitted Nursing Home Residents.Nursing researchArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChronic pain treatment guidelines are unclear and conflicting, which contributes to inconsistent pain care. In order to improve pain care, it is important to understand the various factors that providers rely on to make treatment decisions. The purpose of this study was to examine factors that reportedly influence providers' chronic pain treatment decisions. A secondary aim was to examine differences across participant training level.
methodsEighty-five participants (35 medical students, 50 physicians) made treatment decisions for 16 computer-simulated patients with chronic pain. Participants then selected from provided lists the information they used and the information they would have used (had it been available) to make their chronic pain treatment decisions for the patient vignettes.
resultsFrequency analyses indicated that most participants reported using patients' pain histories (97.6 %) and pain description (95.3 %) when making treatment decisions, and they would have used information about patients' previous treatments (97.6 %) and average and current pain ratings (96.5 %) had this information been available. Compared to physicians, medical students endorsed more frequently that they would have used patients' employment and/or disability status (p < 0.05). A greater proportion of medical students wanted information on patients' use of illicit drugs and alcohol to make treatment decisions; while a greater proportion of physicians reported using personal experience to inform their decisions. DISCUSSION: This study found providers use patients' information and their own experiences and intuition to make chronic pain treatment decisions. Also, participants of different training levels report using different patient and personal factors to guide their treatment decisions.
conclusionsThese results highlight the complexity of chronic pain care and suggest a need for more chronic pain education aimed at medical students and practicing providers.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.