Educating chronic pain patients boosts satisfaction: pain management.(Clinical Rounds)(Brief Article)

NEW ORLEANS -- When chronic pain patients felt educated by their physicians about the pain, they tended to be satisfied with their care in a recent study--and those whose physicians disagreed with the patient's assessment of the level of pain were less satisfied.

Of 115 noncancer patients in the cross-sectional, multicenter study, 83 (72%) said they felt well educated by their physicians. The patients were surveyed just prior to the physician visit, and interviewed by telephone 2 weeks later, Dr. Ian A. Chen said at the southern regional meeting of the American Federation for Medical Research.

Patient perception of being educated by the physician was the …