Impact of treatment dose on patient outcomes after Interdisciplinary Multimodal Pain Therapy

Objectives The impact of duration and intensity on outcomes after Interdisciplinary Multimodal Pain Therapy (IMPT) is poorly researched. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of low dose (LD, avg. 25 hours) and high dose IMPT (HD, avg. 110 hours).Methods Patients completed pain-related questionnaires at the beginning (T1), at the end of therapy (T2) and at 3-month follow-up (T3) and were matched according to age, sex, presence of back-pain and pain-related disability at T1, resulting in 32 patients per group. Primary endpoint was the difference in pain-related disability and average pain intensity at T3 between both groups. In addition, early treatment effects and group differences at T2 were analyzed.Results Both groups showed significant improvements in pain-related disability and average pain intensity between T1 and T2. These positive effects persisted in the HD group until the 3-month follow-up, whereas outcomes in the LD group patients deteriorated and were significantly poorer compared to HD at T3.Discussion Within a widely comparable therapeutic setting, high-dose IMPT was associated with longer lasting improvements compared to low-dose IMPT in chronic pain patients, indicating that the “dose” of therapy is a relevant factor for clinical outcomes and should be further investigated.

A Meta-Epidemiological Appraisal of the Effects of Interdisciplinary Multimodal Pain Therapy Dosing for Chronic Low Back Pain

Using a meta-analysis, meta-regression, and a meta-epidemiological approach, we conducted a systematic review to examine the influence of interdisciplinary multimodal pain therapy (IMPT) dosage on pain, disability, return to work, quality of life, depression, and anxiety in published randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain (CLBP). We considered all RCTs of IMPT from a Cochrane review and searched PubMed for additional RCTs through 30 September 2018. A subgroup random-effects meta-analysis by length, contact, and intensity of treatment was performed followed by a meta-regression analysis. Using random and fixed-effect models and a summary relative odds ratio (ROR), we compared the effect sizes (ES) from short-length, non-daily contact, and low-intensity RCTs with long-length, daily contact, and high-intensity RCTs. Heterogeneity was quantified with the I2 metric. A total of 47 RCTs were selected. Subgroup meta-analysis showed that there were larger ES for pain and disability in RCTs with long-length, non-daily contact, and low intensity of treatment. Larger ES were also observed for quality of life in RCTs with short-length, non-daily contact, and low intensity treatment. However, these findings were not confirmed by the meta-regression analysis. Likewise, the summary RORs were not significant, indicating that the length, contact, and intensity of treatment did not have an overall effect on the investigated outcomes. For the outcomes investigated here, IMPT dosage is not generally associated with better ES, and an optimal dosage was not determined.