Abstract
Patients and physicians report that discussions about pain are frequently frustrating
and unproductive. However, the relationship between discussions about pain and patient-physician
communication is poorly understood. We analyzed 133 video-recorded visits and patient
self-report data collected at a clinic providing primary care to a low-income, black
patient population. We used “thin slice” methods to rate two or three 30-second video
segments from each visit on variables related to patient and physician affect (ie,
displayed emotion) and patient-physician rapport. Discussions about pain were associated
with a .32 increase in patient unease (P < .001) and a .21 increase in patient positive engagement (P = .004; standardized coefficients) compared to discussions about other topics during
the same visit. Discussions about pain were not significantly associated with patient-physician
rapport, physician unease, or physician positive engagement. Patient pain severity
was significantly associated with greater physician and patient unease (P = .01), but not with other variables. Findings suggest that primary care patients,
but not their physicians, display significantly greater emotional intensity during
discussions about pain compared to discussions about other topics.
Perspective
This study used direct observation of video-recorded primary care visits to show that
discussions about pain are associated with heightened displays of both positive and
negative patient emotions. These displays of emotion could potentially influence pain-related
outcomes.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 26, 2013
Accepted:
February 9,
2013
Received in revised form:
January 29,
2013
Received:
October 15,
2012
Footnotes
Supported by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation grant 1722.II (Henry & Eggly) and the University of Michigan Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars program. The parent study was supported by NICHD grant R21 HD050450 (L. Penner) and NCI Center grant P30CA22453 (Karmanos Cancer Institute/Wayne State University). During this project, Dr Henry was supported by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the University of Michigan Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars program.
The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.
Supplementary data accompanying this article are available online at www.jpain.org and www.sciencedirect.com.
Identification
Copyright
Published by Elsevier Inc.
