Health Status of Patients with Chronic Pain Attending a Pain Center yyy Lesley M. Wilkes, PhD, MHPEd,* Maria Castro, RN, BSN, † Shantala Mohan, MBBS, MPH,* S. Raj Sundaraj, MBBS, FFARACS, FANZCA, FFPMANZCA, ‡ and Faiz Noore, MBBS, MM, FRANZCP, DFFPMANZCA § y ABSTRACT: This study aimed to determine whether the health status of patients with chronic pain improved after attending the pain center. The study used a pre–post survey design and was conducted at a pain cen- ter in Western Sydney. A convenience sample of patients with chronic pain who attended the pain center between December 1998 and Feb- ruary 2000 were involved in the study. The Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36 measured health status of the participants in eight gen- eral areas, including physical functioning, role limitations resulting from physical health problems, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, role limitations resulting from emotional prob- lems, and mental health. A significant improvement in bodily pain was demonstrated by the total group. The other variables measured remained unaffected. The study sample was divided into subgroups based on gender, age, and presenting symptom. Within the sub- groups, a significant improvement in bodily pain was shown by the male participants, patients younger than 65 years of age, and those who presented with different types of chronic pain other than back pain. This preliminary study was done to monitor the health status of people with chronic pain. A holistic approach to improve the health status of people with chronic pain seems to be necessary. Further studies should use a combination of generic outcome measures and disease-specific indicators to measure health outcomes. © 2003 by the American Society of Pain Management Nurses Chronic pain affects millions of people worldwide and alters their physical and emotional functioning, decreases their quality of life, and impairs their ability to work (Nurmikko, Nash, & Wiles, 1998). It inflicts a staggering, though often unrecognized, toll on society (Wu & Grzesiak, 1987). A number of authors suggest that chronic pain can cause severe emotional, physical, economic, and social problems for the patient, disrupt family roles and relationships, destroy careers, and cause the individual to withdraw into personal isolation (Crue, 1988; Roy, 1985; Subramanian & Rose, 1988; Vasudevan, 1998; Wall, 1989). Chronic pain is a major health problem and creates numerous demands on health care providers and taxes both the individual and the health service From the *Clinical Nursing Research Unit, Wentworth Area Health Service/University Western Sydney; † Pain Management Service, Nepean Hospital; ‡ Pain Management Services, Nepean Hospital; and the § Pain Clinic, Nepean Hospital, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Professor Lesley Wilkes, Clinical Nursing Research Unit, PO Box 63, Penrith NSW 2750, Australia. Tel: 02 47343181; Fax: 02 47343182; E-mail: l.wilkes@uws.edu.au This project was funded by Wentworth Area Health Service, New South Wales. © 2003 by the American Society of Pain Management Nurses 1524-9042/03/0402-$30.00/0 doi:10.1016/S1524-9042(02)54208-9 Pain Management Nursing, Vol 4, No 2 (June), 2003: pp 70-76