Factors for predicting premature termination from a multidisciplinary inpatient chronic pain program

Abstract

Forty-eight chronic pain patients who were discharged from or left the 21-day inpatient component of a multidisciplinary pain program prior to completion were compared with a randomly selected matched group of program patients who stayed the entire 21 days. The purpose of the study was to determine if pre-admission factors are useful in predicting whether a chronic pain patient will complete an inpatient pain program. The results of pre-admission MMPI, POMS, MPQ, and information obtained from a questionnaire specially created for the program were studied. On the tests, the non-completers admitted to less psychopathology than those who did complete the program. The non-completers also had a higher number of pain-related surgeries and were more likely to be college graduates; limited social support from their families and lower MMPI premature termination scale scores were also found. Implications of these findings for the management of chronic pain patients are discussed.