Communication about chronic pain and opioids in primary care: impact on patient and physician visit experience. 2018

Stephen G Henry, and Robert A Bell, and Joshua J Fenton, and Richard L Kravitz
Department of Internal Medicine, University of California Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA.

Patients and physicians report that communication about chronic pain and opioids is often challenging, but there is little empirical research on whether patient-physician communication about pain affects patient and physician visit experience. This study video recorded 86 primary care visits involving 49 physicians and 86 patients taking long-term opioids for chronic musculoskeletal pain, systematically coded all pain-related utterances during these visits using a custom-designed coding system, and administered previsit and postvisit questionnaires. Multiple regression was used to identify communication behaviors and patient characteristics associated with patients' ratings of their visit experience, physicians' ratings of visit difficulty, or both. After adjusting for covariates, 2 communication variables-patient-physician disagreement and patient requests for opioid dose increases-were each significantly associated with both worse ratings of patient experience and greater physician-reported visit difficulty. Patient desire for increased pain medicine was also significantly positively associated with both worse ratings of patient experience and greater physician-reported visit difficulty. Greater pain severity and more patient questions were each significantly associated with greater physician-reported visit difficulty, but not with patient experience. The association between patient requests for opioids and patient experience ratings was wholly driven by 2 visits involving intense conflict with patients demanding opioids. Patient-physician communication during visits is associated with patient and physician ratings of visit experience. Training programs focused on imparting communication skills that assist physicians in negotiating disagreements about pain management, including responding to patient requests for more opioids, likely have potential to improve visit experience ratings for both patients and physicians.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D010147 Pain Measurement Scales, questionnaires, tests, and other methods used to assess pain severity and duration in patients or experimental animals to aid in diagnosis, therapy, and physiological studies. Analgesia Tests,Analogue Pain Scale,Formalin Test,McGill Pain Questionnaire,Nociception Tests,Pain Assessment,Pain Intensity,Pain Severity,Tourniquet Pain Test,Visual Analogue Pain Scale,Analog Pain Scale,Assessment, Pain,McGill Pain Scale,Visual Analog Pain Scale,Analgesia Test,Analog Pain Scales,Analogue Pain Scales,Formalin Tests,Intensity, Pain,Measurement, Pain,Nociception Test,Pain Assessments,Pain Intensities,Pain Measurements,Pain Questionnaire, McGill,Pain Scale, Analog,Pain Scale, Analogue,Pain Scale, McGill,Pain Severities,Pain Test, Tourniquet,Questionnaire, McGill Pain,Scale, Analog Pain,Scale, Analogue Pain,Scale, McGill Pain,Severity, Pain,Test, Analgesia,Test, Formalin,Test, Nociception,Test, Tourniquet Pain,Tests, Nociception,Tourniquet Pain Tests
D010817 Physician-Patient Relations The interactions between physician and patient. Doctor-Patient Relations,Doctor Patient Relations,Physician Patient Relations,Physician Patient Relationship,Doctor Patient Relation,Doctor-Patient Relation,Physician Patient Relation,Physician Patient Relationships,Physician-Patient Relation,Relation, Doctor Patient,Relation, Doctor-Patient,Relation, Physician Patient,Relation, Physician-Patient,Relations, Doctor Patient,Relations, Doctor-Patient,Relations, Physician Patient,Relations, Physician-Patient,Relationship, Physician Patient,Relationships, Physician Patient
D010820 Physicians Individuals licensed to practice medicine. Physician
D011320 Primary Health Care Care which provides integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. (JAMA 1995;273(3):192) Primary Care,Primary Healthcare,Care, Primary,Care, Primary Health,Health Care, Primary,Healthcare, Primary
D011795 Surveys and Questionnaires Collections of data obtained from voluntary subjects. The information usually takes the form of answers to questions, or suggestions. Community Survey,Nonrespondent,Questionnaire,Questionnaires,Respondent,Survey,Survey Method,Survey Methods,Surveys,Baseline Survey,Community Surveys,Methodology, Survey,Nonrespondents,Questionnaire Design,Randomized Response Technique,Repeated Rounds of Survey,Respondents,Survey Methodology,Baseline Surveys,Design, Questionnaire,Designs, Questionnaire,Methods, Survey,Questionnaire Designs,Questionnaires and Surveys,Randomized Response Techniques,Response Technique, Randomized,Response Techniques, Randomized,Survey, Baseline,Survey, Community,Surveys, Baseline,Surveys, Community,Techniques, Randomized Response
D003142 Communication The exchange or transmission of ideas, attitudes, or beliefs between individuals or groups. Miscommunication,Misinformation,Social Communication,Communication Programs,Communications Personnel,Personal Communication,Communication Program,Communication, Personal,Communication, Social,Communications, Social,Miscommunications,Misinformations,Personnel, Communications,Program, Communication,Programs, Communication,Social Communications
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man

Related Publications

Stephen G Henry, and Robert A Bell, and Joshua J Fenton, and Richard L Kravitz
January 2012, Patient education and counseling,
Stephen G Henry, and Robert A Bell, and Joshua J Fenton, and Richard L Kravitz
January 2017, The Permanente journal,
Stephen G Henry, and Robert A Bell, and Joshua J Fenton, and Richard L Kravitz
January 2005, Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.),
Stephen G Henry, and Robert A Bell, and Joshua J Fenton, and Richard L Kravitz
October 2018, The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners,
Stephen G Henry, and Robert A Bell, and Joshua J Fenton, and Richard L Kravitz
December 2002, Patient education and counseling,
Stephen G Henry, and Robert A Bell, and Joshua J Fenton, and Richard L Kravitz
January 2021, BMC family practice,
Stephen G Henry, and Robert A Bell, and Joshua J Fenton, and Richard L Kravitz
December 2010, The journal of pain,
Stephen G Henry, and Robert A Bell, and Joshua J Fenton, and Richard L Kravitz
November 1995, Social science & medicine (1982),
Stephen G Henry, and Robert A Bell, and Joshua J Fenton, and Richard L Kravitz
November 2013, Patient education and counseling,
Stephen G Henry, and Robert A Bell, and Joshua J Fenton, and Richard L Kravitz
October 2008, Journal of general internal medicine,
Copied contents to your clipboard!