Evidence-Based Scientific Data Documenting the Treatment and Cost-Effectiveness of Comprehensive Pain Programs for Chronic Nonmalignant Pain

Cost-Effectiveness of Early Versus Delayed Functional Restoration for Chronic Disabling Occupational Musculoskeletal Disorders

“…This review article estimated that, in the United States, biopsychosocial interventions for chronic pain and disability results in lifetime savings of $356,288 per person. This is the lower limit of lifetime savings, which include savings of $83,678 per person in lifetime disability payments, and savings of between $272,610 -$423,279 in lifetime healthcare costs (Gatchel & Okifuji, 2006). The review also notes that factoring in other indirect costs, such as lost productivity, would result in substantially higher lifetime savings per person.…”

“…The highly satisfactory results of functional restoration have been shown to be temporally stable (Mayer et al, 1987), and can be generalized across different socioeconomic and medico-legal systems (Bendix et al, 1996;Corey, Koepfler, Etlin, & Day, 1996;Hildebrandt, Pfingsten, Saur, & Jansen, 1997;Jousset et al, 2004). Finally, it has been demonstrated that functional restoration, along with other interdisciplinary approaches to pain management, are more cost-effective than standard conservative treatment (Gatchel & Okifuji, 2006;Skouen, Grasdal, Haldorsen, & Ursin, 2002;Turk, 2002;Turk & Okifuji, 1997).…”

“…In addition, the American Pain Society Task Force on Comprehensive Pain Rehabilitation has conducted a systematic review of the treatment and cost-effectiveness of biopsychosocial interventions for management of chronic non-malignant pain (Gatchel & Okifuji, 2006). This review article estimated that, in the United States, biopsychosocial interventions for chronic pain and disability results in lifetime savings of $356,288 per person.…”

“…Annual medication costs associated with both prescription and non-prescription analgesics were estimated at $13.8 billion and $2.6 billion, respectively (Krueger & Stone, 2008). As noted by Gatchel and Okifuji (2006), as well as Stewart, Ricci, Chee, Morganstein, and Lipton (2003), after taking into account the costs of lost productivity in the labor workforce, the financial impact of pain is staggering.…”

“…One of these implications involves the cost of dealing with patients who are in the late stages of a chronic pain condition. Given the complex nature of chronic pain, reviews of the literature have unsurprisingly documented that intensive, interdisciplinary treatments based on the biopsychosocial model of pain are vastly more cost-effective than standard single-discipline treatment modalities, even if the upfront cost of the interdisciplinary treatment is greater than standard care (Gatchel & Okifuji, 2006;Turk, Loeser, & Monarch, 2002). However, despite the clear implications of chronicity and the documented amounts of staggering costs associated with pain, there has been very little research on the link between cost and outcomes for early rehabilitation for chronic pain conditions, relative to late rehabilitation.…”