Communication preferences of patients with chronic back pain in medical rehabilitation

Successful treatment of chronic pain patients can be dependent on successful patient-provider communication. Patient-physician communication for patients with chronic back pain (CBP) has rarely been explored. The current study examines two questions: what is important for CBP patients concerning communication with the healthcare provider and are there interindividual differences in communication preferences dependent on sociodemographic characteristics? Patient preferences were measured using the KOPRA questionnaire (32 items and 4 scales). The mean age of the 701 participating rehabilitants was 51 years (SD +/- 11.1 years) of which 60% were women. An effective and open communication with the healthcare physician was rated as the most important preference for CBP patients. Gender (depending on the scale: p = 0.01-0.82) and age (p = 0.01-0.12) seemed to influence some preferences in patient-provider communication. By taking into account individual communication preferences of CBP patients, healthcare providers could purposefully be responsive to these, possibly contributing to a more successful treatment.