Interdisciplinary Pain Rehabilitation Programs: Evidence and Clinical Real-World Results

Abstract

Chronic pain conditions are influenced by and interact with physical, psychological, social, and contextual factors. These conditions are associated with psychological distress, poor health, sick leave, and high socio-economic costs. Therefore, modern clinical practice applies a biopsychosocial (BPS) framework. Interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation programs (IPRPs) for chronic pain distinguish themselves as well-coordinated complex interventions. This chapter describes the contents of such programs. We will briefly review the evidence for IPRPs and discuss problems when evaluating these complex interventions. Furthermore, we will report practice-based results from a large Swedish pain registry—the Swedish Quality Registry for Pain Rehabilitation (SQRP). The SQRP collects data from a relevant special clinical department in Sweden—i.e., real-life outcomes will be depicted. Characteristics of patients that benefit the most from IPRPs will be described and discussed. The indications for IPRPs will also be presented. Finally, we will discuss how to improve rehabilitation for chronic pain patients.