• Ariel Shalev, Charles R Henderson, Iliana Gutierrez, Evan Mullen, and M Carrington Reid.
• Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine.
• Clin J Pain. 2021 Apr 1; 37 (4): 251258251-258.

ObjectivesIn this study of 154 community-dwelling older adults with chronic noncancer pain, we sought to assess participants' beliefs about pain as well as pain management treatments and to determine the influence of those beliefs on participants' willingness to undertake 3 physician-recommended pain treatments, that is, a pharmacologic, physical, and psychological therapy.Materials And MethodsA 16-item questionnaire was employed to ascertain participants' pain beliefs, divided into 4 subscales representing: (1) negative beliefs about pharmacological treatments, (2) positive beliefs about physical treatment approaches, for example, exercise, (3) positive beliefs about psychological treatments, and (4) fatalistic beliefs about pain. Participants were asked to rate their willingness to undertake a pharmacologic, physical, or psychological therapy if their physician recommended that they do so. Agreement with each belief was measured, and we examined willingness to undertake each treatment as a function of pain belief subscale scores after controlling for relevant covariates.ResultsPositive beliefs about physical treatments (eg, benefits of exercise) were the most strongly endorsed items on the pain beliefs questionnaire. All 3 treatment-focused pain beliefs subscales were significantly associated with willingness to undertake that form of treatment (eg, negative beliefs about pain medication use were associated with decreased willingness to take pain medication). Fatalistic attitudes were significantly associated with a decreased willingness to undertake physical treatments.DiscussionThese results support the notion that patients' beliefs about pain and pain treatments can have important effects on treatment engagement and, if assessed, can help guide clinical management of chronic pain in older adults.Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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