Problems of drop-out in the self-help treatment of chronic, occupational pain of the upper limbs

Susan H. Spence, Louise Sharpe

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    11 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a self-help, cognitive-behavioural programme in the rehabilitation of a sample of chronic pain patients. The results demonstrated significant benefits for subjects who completed the self-help treatment on measures of depression, anxiety, coping strategies, impact on daily living, pain beliefs and self-monitored pain. These benefits were generally maintained at 6 month follow-up and no differences were found in outcome between subjects who completed the self-programme compared to those who completed the same treatment in a traditional clinic-based format. Unfortunately, a very high drop-out rate was found for the self-help condition, indicating the approach to be unsuitable for many clients. Attempts to identify the characteristics of subjects who completed the self-help programme versus those who dropped-out revealed only one predictor, namely pretreatment ratings of the credibility of the programme.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)311-328
    Number of pages18
    JournalBehavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy
    Volume21
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1993

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