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

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.