Roy Rachel, Sommer Jordana L, Amadeo Ryan, Reynolds Kristin, Kilborn Kayla, Sabourin Brigitte, El-Gabalawy Renée
Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Can J Pain. 2022 Feb 18;6(1):24-32. doi: 10.1080/24740527.2021.2016031. eCollection 2022.
Chronic pain is a prevalent and burdensome problem within the Canadian health care system, where the gold standard treatment occurs at multidisciplinary pain facilities. Patient intake questionnaires (PIQs) are standard practice for obtaining health information, with many patients including free-text (e.g., writing in margins of questionnaires) on their PIQs.
This study aims to quantitatively examine whether and how patients who include free-text on PIQs differ from those who do not.
We retrospectively analyzed 367 PIQs at a Canadian pain facility in Winnipeg, Canada. Patients were categorized into free-text (i.e., any text response not required in responding to questions) or no free-text groups. Groups were compared on sociodemographics, pain, health care utilization, and depressive symptoms with independent samples -tests and chi-square analyses.
Patients with free-text compared to those without had more sources of pain (6.66 vs. 4.63), longer duration of pain (123.2 months vs. 68.1 months), and a greater proportion of past pain conditions (66.3% vs. 55.2%). Additionally, they had tried more treatments for their pain, had seen more specialists, had tried more past medications, were currently on more medications, and had undergone more tests. No differences were identified for depressive symptoms across groups.
This study is the first to examine patient and health-related correlates of free-text on PIQs at a Canadian pain facility. Results indicate that there are significant differences between groups on pain and health care utilization. Thus, patients using free-text may require additional supports and targeted interventions to improve patient-physician communication and patient outcomes.
慢性疼痛在加拿大医疗保健系统中是一个普遍且负担沉重的问题，其金标准治疗在多学科疼痛治疗机构进行。患者入院调查问卷（PIQ）是获取健康信息的标准做法，许多患者会在PIQ上填写自由文本（例如，在问卷空白处书写）。
本研究旨在定量研究在PIQ上填写自由文本的患者与未填写自由文本的患者是否存在差异以及存在何种差异。
我们对加拿大温尼伯一家疼痛治疗机构的367份PIQ进行了回顾性分析。患者被分为自由文本组（即回答问题时不需要的任何文本回复）或无自由文本组。通过独立样本t检验和卡方分析，比较两组在社会人口统计学、疼痛、医疗保健利用和抑郁症状方面的差异。
与未填写自由文本的患者相比，填写自由文本的患者疼痛来源更多（6.66对4.63）、疼痛持续时间更长（123.2个月对68.1个月），过去患疼痛疾病的比例更高（66.3%对55.2%）。此外，他们尝试过更多治疗疼痛的方法，看过更多专科医生，尝试过更多过去使用过的药物，目前正在服用更多药物，并且接受过更多检查。两组在抑郁症状方面未发现差异。
本研究首次在加拿大一家疼痛治疗机构研究了PIQ上自由文本与患者及健康相关因素的关联。结果表明，两组在疼痛和医疗保健利用方面存在显著差异。因此，使用自由文本的患者可能需要额外的支持和针对性干预，以改善医患沟通和患者治疗效果。
