Multidisciplinary treatment of chronic pain patients: Its efficacy in changing patient locus of control

Objective: To assess the efficacy of multidisciplinary treatment in altering chronic pain patient locus of control beliefs. Design: A before-and-after treatment design including demographics. Participants: Seventy-three chronic nonmalignant pain patients who completed study questionnaires both before and after treatment. Setting: Comprehensive, outpatient, multidisciplinary pain management program at a large Midwestern university medical center. Main Outcome Measures: Pain Locus of Control Scale and Survey of Pain Attitudes Control subscale. Results: Patients' perceptions of personal control over pain increased from pretreatment to posttreatment, and patients' perceptions of external control over pain, such as fate or powerful others, decreased from pretreatment to posttreatment. Conclusions: This study supports the efficacy of chronic pain management centers in altering patient beliefs about pain. The ability to increase patients' self-efficacy in their control over pain and to decrease external attributions are essential to successful pain management.