The Center for Bioethics, Pain Management and Medicine , Lexington, KY , USA.
Curr Med Res Opin. 2014 Mar;30(3):361-5. doi: 10.1185/03007995.2013.828587. Epub 2013 Nov 8.
For chronic pain treatment, guidelines and regulatory agencies have defined functional improvement as a primary goal, especially when chronic opioid therapy is used. Functional improvement is frequently evaluated by qualitative questioning. This pilot study sought to establish a simple and inexpensive measure of functional change for a chronic pain population.
Using a multidisciplinary pain clinic standard physical therapy approach for all entering chronic pain patients, multiple functional tests were performed, including the 6-Minute Walk Test. Data was collected by retrospective chart review, at entry to the clinic and 3-6 months later and compared using simple t-test statistics on 45 patients.
The average distance walked at center admission was 272.87 yards. At 3-6 month clinical retesting, the distance had improved significantly to 339.04 yards (p<0.0001). NRS scores at 3-6 months were also improved from baseline (p<0.001).
While suggestive, this study has significant limitations. Not all patients entering into the clinic were included in this study, only those who had completed the necessary testing. Further, chart reviews are complicated by the accuracy with which data is recorded. This study is intriguing and presents positive data for a simple, inexpensive and reproducible test for physical functioning in a chronic pain population. Further study is warranted based on these descriptive results.
对于慢性疼痛治疗，指南和监管机构将功能改善定义为主要目标，特别是在使用慢性阿片类药物治疗时。功能改善通常通过定性问题来评估。这项初步研究旨在为慢性疼痛人群建立一种简单且廉价的功能变化衡量方法。
对于所有进入慢性疼痛诊所的患者，采用多学科疼痛诊所标准物理治疗方法，进行多项功能测试，包括 6 分钟步行测试。通过回顾性图表审查收集数据，在进入诊所时和 3 至 6 个月后进行比较，并对 45 名患者使用简单的 t 检验统计数据进行比较。
中心入院时的平均步行距离为 272.87 码。在 3 至 6 个月的临床复查时，距离显著提高到 339.04 码（p<0.0001）。3-6 个月的 NRS 评分也从基线开始改善（p<0.001）。
虽然这是一项初步研究，但存在显著的局限性。并非所有进入诊所的患者都包括在这项研究中，仅包括那些完成必要测试的患者。此外，图表审查受到数据记录准确性的影响。这项研究很有趣，为慢性疼痛人群提供了一种简单、廉价且可重复的身体功能测试的阳性数据。基于这些描述性结果，进一步的研究是必要的。
