Effects of a psychoeducational program for chronic pain management

Aims: to evaluate the impact of an eight-week psychoeducational program focused on pain intensity, disability and depressive symptoms of patients with chronic pain. Method: 79 patients with chronic pain of different etiologies composed the sample. Patients were assessed before, at the end of the intervention and six months after the intervention. The program was developed by a nurse using cognitive-behavioral strategies and was conducted by a multidisciplinary team. The Wilcoxon test was used to compare repeated measures. Results: the participants ’ mean age was 53 years old, most were female (91%), with an average of 9.5 years of schooling and an average pain duration of 9.9 years. Significant reduction in pain intensity (p<0.001), disability (p<0.001) and depressive symptoms (p<0.001) was found at the end of the program. Conclusions: the psychoeducational program was effective in reducing pain intensity, reducing disability and in controlling depressive symptoms in this sample