Improving Chronic Pain Management in Canada - The STOP-PAIN Project. Phase I: Assessment of Chronic Pain Burden and Management

This project is the first step of a larger research program aimed at improving chronic pain management in Canada. Two studies are proposed. The first will evaluate the human and economic burden of chronic pain in Canada by portraying the bio-psycho-social profile of the patients waiting to be seen in multidisciplinary pain treatment facilities (MPFT), and documenting the direct and indirect costs of their pain. The second will describe and analyse the services that are currently offered in public and private MPFT in Canada. The results of these studies will provide a better understanding of the devastating impact which chronic pain has on Canadian society. They will help in establishing clinical priorities and will better inform decisions regarding treatment resource allocation for chronic pain. These studies will also lay the foundation of a Canadian clinical research network that will provide the infrastructure to conduct population-based, epidemiological and outcome research to address important research questions and hypotheses about chronic pain management issues and factors which may predispose, precipitate or perpetuate certain types of chronic pain conditions. This network will also allow future clinical trials to assess interventions in large population of patients and develop good, evidence based standards of care for chronic pain patients.