Comparing chronic pain treatment seekers in primary care versus tertiary care settings

Background: Patients frequently seek treatment for chronic nonmalignant pain in primary care settings. Compared with physicians who have completed extensive specialization (eg, fellowships) in pain management, primary care physicians receive much less formal training in managing chronic pain. While chronic pain represents a complicated condition in its own right, the recent increase in opioid prescriptions further muddles treatment. It is unknown whether patients with chronic pain seeking treatment in primary care differ from those seeking treatment in tertiary care settings. This study sought to determine whether patients with chronic pain in primary care reported less pain, fewer psychological variables related to pain, and lower risk of medication misuse/abuse compared with those in tertiary care.

Methods: Data collected from patients with chronic pain in primary care settings and tertiary care settings were analyzed for significant differences using Wilcoxon rank sum tests, Fisher exact tests, and linear regression. A host of variables among populations, including demographics, self-reported pain severity, psychological variables related to pain, and risk for opioid misuse and abuse, were compared.

Results: Findings suggest that primary care patients with chronic pain were similar to those in tertiary care on a host of indices and reported more severe pain. There were no significant group differences for risk of medication misuse or abuse.

Conclusion: It seems that primary care physicians care for a complicated group of patients with chronic pain that rivals the complexity of those seen in specialized tertiary care pain management facilities.