Pain in Primary Care Settings

Pain is the number one complaint for people seeking medical treatment. This book intends to facilitate the care for pain patients in the primary care setting, while decreasing the immediate burden placed on health care providers.

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Pain is the number one complaint for people seeking medical treatment. It accounts for over 35 million new office visits and is a component of 80% of all office visits to physicians in the United States annually. Of these patients, a significant proportion already have or go on to develop chronic pain, accounting for nearly 50 million people in pain in the United States alone. The economic and public health impact of pain is tremendous, accounting for an estimated $100 billion/year in medical costs. Most often the primary care setting is the first and only site of contact for these patients. Due to the complex nature of many of the chronic pain conditions, professionals working in the primary care setting may often be overwhelmed, confused, or frustrated by ethical and legal issues, disability forms, and requests for medications. This book is aimed at all professionals working in the primary care setting, including physicians, nurses, psychologists, physical therapists, and other health care providers. It is intended to facilitate the care for pain patients in the primary care setting, while decreasing the immediate burden placed on health care providers.
The text is intended to: 1) Assist the primary care provider in understanding the complex nature of pain. 2) Introduce the primary care provider to the issues of assessment, diagnosis and evidence-based treatment for chronic pain. 3) Provide case studies and an overview for the most common pain disorders. 4) Address the complex issues of disability as well as ethical and legal concerns.