Multidisciplinary Pain Programs for Chronic Pain: Evidence from Systematic Reviews

Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) HTA Report #30.

Using the 1996 National Population Health survey data, this report provides an estimate of the prevalence of chronic pain (CP) among Albertans. It was estimated that 11.2% of Albertans suffer some level of CP and about 2.3% suffer from severe CP. As the proportion of individuals suffering from CP increases with age, it is projected that CP will represent an important health problem as the population in Alberta ages over the coming decades.

Two main questions will be addressed:

1. What is the strength of the evidence on the efficacy/effectiveness of multidisciplinary pain programs (MPPs) in patients with CP? And
2. What is the evidence on the efficiency of providing MPPs for treating CP patients?

NOTE: In 2006 the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research HTA unit moved to IHE. Documents produced in and prior to 2006 have different formats; the format was determined by the agency for which the document was produced.