Date of Award

2013

Degree Type

Thesis

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Rakos, Richard

Subject Headings

Chronic pain -- Rehabilitation, Chronic pain -- Treatment, Smoking, Mental Health Neurosciences Psychology

Abstract

Previous research suggests there is a relationship between pain and smoking, but there is limited research on the treatment outcomes of people with chronic pain who smoke. This is particularly evident in the context of interdisciplinary chronic pain treatment programs because the only such study (Hooten et al., 2009) has not been replicated. Therefore, the current study examined the immediate treatment outcomes in patients who have been through an interdisciplinary chronic pain rehabilitation program. The treatment outcomes that were examined were depression, anxiety, pain intensity, and pain disability. Depression scores were higher both at admission and discharge for smokers when compared to nonsmokers, anxiety scores and pain intensity scores were higher at admission for smokers, but were no longer significantly different from nonsmokers at discharge, and pain disability scores for smokers and nonsmokers were not significantly different at both admission and discharge. In addition, both smokers and nonsmokers improved on all of these measures between admission and discharge. These data support the findings of Hooten et al. (2009) and provide additional evidence that comprehensive chronic pain rehabilitation programs can be effective for both smokers and nonsmokers, specifically regarding pain intensity, anxiety, depression, and pain disability outcomes

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