Table 3.
Patient and Provider Views on the Helpfulness of the Pain Profile
| Patients (N=171) | Providers (N=32) | Qualitative Feedback | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helpfulness in: | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) |
The section where you could describe when/how pain affects your lifestyle (sleeping, daily activities, mood) conveys very well how extreme the patient’s pain is. It is much more effective than a 1–10 scale. – Patient The pain profile is helpful . . . to capture the patient’s general pain history and treatment expectations – Provider It is very helpful to review . . . prior to new patient encounters. Especially when patients have many pain complaints, it helps to focus the appointment on those that are most pertinent and in an organized manner. – Provider It [Pain Story] should not replace hearing a person tell their pain story in person. – Provider I am not sure that typing out your story is a valuable use of the patient’s time. Patients are asked to retell their experience anyway, so I am not sure this is necessary. – Patient |
| Communicating patients’ pain experiencesa | 2.6 (1.1) | ||
| Making decisions (n=25)a | 2.5 (0.8) | ||
| N (%) | N (%) | ||
| Reviewing treatment history | 18 (56.3) | ||
| Understanding pain regions | 15 (46.9) | ||
| Guiding pharmacologic treatment | 13 (40.6) | ||
| Guiding non-pharmacologic treatment | 11 (34.4) | ||
| Better patient-provider relationship | 5 (15.6) | ||
| Other | 1 (3.1) | ||
| Which section(s), if any, contains unnecessary questions? | |||
| Pain Story | 16 (9.4) | 3 (9.4) | |
| Pain Areas | 6 (3.5) | 2 (6.3) | |
| Pain Impact | 4 (2.3) | 1 (3.1) | |
| Past Treatments (non-med) | 10 (5.6) | 0 (0) | |
| Past Treatments (med) | 6 (3.5) | 1 (3.1) | |
| Pain Goals | 14 (8.2) | 4 (12.5) | |
| Provider Notes | 6 (18.8) | ||
| None of these | 131 (76.6) | 17 (53.1) | |
| Helpfulness of individual sectionsb | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | |
| Pain Story | 3.7 (1.0) | 4.1 (0.8) | |
| Pain Areas (n=31) | 3.9 (1.0) | 4.1 (1.0) | |
| Pain Impact | 4.0 (1.1) | 4.4 (0.8) | |
| Past Treatments (non-med) | 3.8 (1.1) | 4.7 (0.5) | |
| Past Treatments (med) (n=31) | 3.9 (1.0) | 4.6 (0.8) | |
| Pain Goals | 3.8 (1.1) | 4.1 (0.9) | |
| Provider Notes | 3.2 (1.0) |
Notes: aScale of 1–4 (1 = “least helpful;” 4 = “most helpful”). bScale of 1–5 (1 = “least helpful;” 5 = “most helpful”).