Relationship between the perceived burden of suffering and the observed quality of ADL task performance before and after a 12-week pain management programme

Abstract

Background/objective

Constant pain causes suffering and affects performance of activities of daily living (ADL). In clients with chronic musculoskeletal pain, we wanted to determine (i) the relationship between the perceived burden of suffering (measured with the Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self Measure (PRISM)) and the observed quality of ADL task performance (measured with the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS)); and (ii) the change in these assessments before and after a 12-week pain programme.

Methods

In this cross-sectional cohort study, we retrospectively collected data from participants in a Swiss pain management programme. We calculated the relationship, correlations and effect sizes for the PRISM and AMPS using non-parametric tests. We set the level of significance at α = 0.05.

Results

Out of 138 clients, 74 participated. We found no significant correlations between the PRISM and AMPS (p = 0.55–0.36), except for the PRISM and AMPS process ability measure after the pain management programme (p = 0.023). Pre-post-correlations of the AMPS and PRISM were significant, with medium to strong effect sizes (−0.48–0.66).

Conclusion

Participation in this pain programme improved both, the PRISM and AMPS scores. The lack of correlation between these assessments in clients with chronic musculoskeletal pain, however, strongly argues for a thorough clinical assessment.

Keywords:

• Activities of daily living
• assessment
• correlation
• chronic musculoskeletal pain
• occupational performance
• occupational therapy

Disclosure statement

We report no other potential conflict of interest relevant to this article.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the team who implemented the BAI-Reha programme: Stefan Bachmann, Gion Caliezi, Barbara Helbling, Stephan Reichenbach, Pia Schärer Huber, Colette Widmer Leu, and Balz Winteler. Additionally for the data collection of this study, we thank Barbara Egender, Hanna Kirchner, Rebeka Marti, Esther Steimen Habegger, and Anita Zogg.

Additional information

Funding

The Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of the University Hospital (Inselspital) Bern funded data collection for this study.