Efficacy of a self-management group intervention for elderly persons with chronic pain

Objectives: To assess the efficacy of a self-management group intervention in improving physical functioning, mood, and pain among elderly persons with chronic pain, and to identify factors that may be associated with improvement. Materials and Methods: Forty-five residents of three retirement communities (86% women; mean age, 82.0 years) were assigned randomly to a 7-week pain self-management group or an educational booklet control condition. Participants completed self-report measures of pain, functioning, depression, and pain-related beliefs at baseline, 9 weeks later (after treatment), and 3 months after the post-treatment assessment. Results: The self-management group showed significantly greater pre- to post-treatment improvement in physical role function (P = 0.04) and characteristic pain intensity (P = 0.02). No significant differences were found between groups on measures of pain-related activity interference, depression, and pain-related beliefs. Improvement in characteristic pain and physical role function was not associated with baseline depression scores, pretreatment expectations, or changes in pain-related beliefs. Discussion: This study provides preliminary support for the efficacy of a self-management group intervention for older adults with chronic pain and has implications for future studies of such approaches for this and similar populations.