ArticleBMC health services research2019
'A lifebuoy' and 'a waste of time': patients' varying experiences of multidisciplinary pain centre treatment- a qualitative study.
Article in BMC health services research, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Health care providers' experiences of pain management and attitudes towards digitally supported self-management interventions for chronic pain: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2021Trial
- Developing recommendations for digital collaboration meetings across healthcare levels and services for patients with chronic pain- a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Patient Perspectives on Interdisciplinary Peripheral Nerve Trauma Care.Plastic surgery (Oakville, Ont.) · 2025Article
- Patients' Experiences with an Interdisciplinary Team Assessment of Chronic Pain: A Qualitative Interview Study.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2025Article
- "How can we help you?": results of a scoping review on the perceived needs of people living with chronic pain regarding physiotherapy.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- An interdisciplinary perspective on peripheral drivers of pain in rheumatoid arthritis.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2024Review
- Is posterior urethral valve a chronic disease, not merely a chronic kidney disease? Reflections on models of (multidisciplinary) care.Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany) · 2023Article
- "Frustrated with the whole system": a qualitative framework analysis of the issues faced by people accessing health services for chronic pain.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Single-Level Total Disc Replacement: Index-Level and Adjacent-Level Revision Surgery Incidence, Characteristics, and Outcomes.International journal of spine surgery · 2022Article
- The burden of waiting to access pain clinic services: perceptions and experiences of patients with rheumatic conditions.BMC health services research · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe recognition of chronic pain as a biopsychosocial phenomenon has led to the establishment of multidisciplinary pain treatment facilities, such as pain centres. Previous studies have focussed on inpatient, group-based or time-limited multidisciplinary pain programmes. The aim was to investigate variation in patients' experiences of attending individual outpatient multidisciplinary treatment at pain centres in Norway.
methodsThis was a qualitative study using semi-structured individual interviews with 19 informants. The informants were recruited among persons who after referral by their general practitioners 12 months prior had attended multidisciplinary pain treatment at a pain centre. The data were analysed thematically using systematic text condensation.
resultsThe informants had received different treatments at the pain centres. Some had undergone only one multidisciplinary assessment in which a physician, a psychologist and a physiotherapist had been present, whereas others had initially been to a multidisciplinary assessment and then continued treatment by one or more of the professionals at the centre. Their experiences ranged from the pain centre as being described as a lifebuoy by some informants who had attended treatment over time, to being described as a waste of time by others who had only attended one or two multidisciplinary sessions. Prominent experiences included being met with understanding and a perception of receiving the best possible treatment, but also included disappointment over not being offered any treatment and perceiving the multidisciplinary approach as unnecessary.
conclusionsThere were large variations in the informants' experiences in the pain centres. The findings indicate that the pain centres' multidisciplinary approach can represent a new approach to living with chronic pain but may also not provide anything new. Efforts should be devoted to ensuring that the pain centres' multidisciplinary treatment approach is aligned with their patients' actual needs.
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