This research assessed the clinical utility of an augmented Short Form 36 (SF-36) instrument, namely, the Treatment Outcomes in Pain Survey (TOPS) in an Australian chronic pain population. A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was adopted. Intervention comprised patients attending the Comprehensive Outpatient Pain Education and Rehabilitation (COPER) program, which is an intensive, inter-disciplinary, three-week, cognitive behaviour therapy based outpatient chronic pain treatment. Statistical analysis comprised pre-treatment and post-treatment means and standard deviations, effect sizes, paired samples t-tests, and Cronbach's alpha. Australian norms for 86 (42 males and 44 females) patients were presented for initial values and treatment-related improvements. Internal consistency reliability coefficients (Cronbach's alpha) demonstrated that the TOPS was a reliable measure of group outcomes. Two dimensions, Life control and Total Pain Experience, were sensitive enough to follow individual patients. All SF-36 domains and ten of the fourteen TOPS domains improved significantly following treatment. Despite the limitations to this research, the results are consistent with previous findings (Fishbain, 2000; Morley, Eccleston, & Williams, 1999) that cognitive behavioural, multidisciplinary pain treatment is associated with improvement in a number of biopsychosocial aspects of chronic pain as measured by the TOPS. These include Pain Symptom, Lower Body Functional Limitations, Perceived Family/Social Disability, Objective Family/Social Disability, Total Pain Experience, Life Control, Solicitous Responses, Upper Body Functional Limitations, Fear Avoidance, Patient Satisfaction with Outcomes, as well as general health and wellbeing aspects measured by the SF-36 component of the TOPS. Limitations of the study and potential future research are discussed. / Thesis (MPsy(Clinical))--University of South Australia, 2005.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/267353 |
| Creators | Vaskin, Elizabeth. |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | copyright under review |
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