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Abstract
Purpose: Pain coping is important in health outcomes. In the current literature, pain coping usually means those goal-directed strategies to manage pain. The study goal was to explore what personal meaning “coping” has for work-disabled individuals in pain. Method: Qualitative, in depth interviews with follow-up verification interviews were conducted with 13 volunteers who were off work and in rehabilitation for chronic pain from a musculoskeletal injury. The two main questions were: (1) How did participants understand the term “coping with pain”; and (2) how did they come to this understanding of coping. The theoretical approach was social phenomenology and data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: The dominant theme was that pain coping is an intrinsic and life-defining attitude and belief. This understanding primarily arose through early modeling by parents and significant others. Secondary theme was that coping is practical strategies to manage or eliminate pain. This arose through more current interactions with health care providers and others in the social network. Conclusions: Researchers’ and clinicians’ view of coping may not always match the views held by individuals with chronic pain. This might impact on the effectiveness of interventions designed to modify coping behaviors, and alternative ways of intervening may be needed.
Implications for Rehabilitation
Coping has an important impact on health recovery after musculoskeletal injuries but interventions to modify pain coping strategies in those with chronic pain have met with modest success.
The dominant model for coping in the research literature defines coping as a behavioral and/or cognitive response to a stressful situation.
A qualitative study to examine what personal meaning “coping” holds for work-disabled persons with chronic pain suggests that coping is primarily conceptualized as an intrinsic and life-defining attitude/belief learned early in life.
The above incongruence between the dominant research model of coping and the views of workers with chronic pain might impact on the effectiveness of interventions designed to modify coping behaviors for this population, and alternative ways of intervening may be needed.
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Declaration of Interest: This study was made possible by a grant from WCB-Alberta Research Program.