Goals of the Treatment Include
- Decrease pain levels
- Decrease muscle tension and internal arousal levels
- Increase function and activity tolerance
- Decrease anxiety/depression and other emotional side effects of physical injury/disability
- Address adjustment issues related to injury/disability
- Address return-to-work issues
Treatment Modalities
- Biofeedback Therapy
- Individual counseling
- Group counseling
- Relaxation/self-regulation treatment
- Stress management skill development
Indicators of Behavioral Medicine
Interdisciplinary Treatment
- Excessive use of analgesic medication for chronic pain
- Excessive use of anti-inflammatory medication for chronic pain
- Excessive use of antidepressant medication with chronic pain
- Concern of medication reliance
- Extended, persistent pain
- Social or emotional side effects of pain
- Diagnosis or goals which focus on musculoskeletal dysfunction (decrease pain, decrease spasm/spasticity, etc.)
- Diagnosis with focus on pain
- Use of pain relief modalities
- Difficulty adjusting to functional and lifestyle limitations
Information Data
- Longitudinal outcome studies from national databases indicate behavioral
interventions improve outcomes, decrease cost after treatment completion
and provide outcome consistency over 5-7 year follow-up. These studies
also document decreased symptom frequency and intensity as well as decreased
need for medication following behavioral treatment.
- A 1996 National Institute of Health Technology Assessment Consensus
Statement concluded that behavioral interventions were necessary for
optimal treatment of complex rehabilitation and pain issues. The statement
also strongly advocated prescribing and reimbursing behavioral interventions
"as part of comprehensive medical services at rates comparable to those
for other medical care... "
- Physical therapists in the Warm Springs Rehabilitation System report
a notable positive difference in patients who receive behavioral treatments
versus those patients who do not. These observations mirror national
outcome data.
