Grant: CIHR Fellowship

One Canadian out of five suffers from chronic pain, which costs approximately $6 billion yearly. The most recent Canadian statistics suggest low back pain is the most common type of chronic pains. Despite these statistics, we do not know much about how the various characteristics of chronic pain are associated with health care utilization and patient outcomes, especially in primary care patients. Research has shown that looking at fluctuations in pain intensity over time can provide a better representation of patients' pain experience compared to single pain scores; this approach can provide valuable information for patient care and help deepen our understanding of chronic pain experiences and health care utilization. The goal of this study is to examine variations in pain intensity (from one patient to another as well as within patients) and their relationships with health care utilization, analgesic consumption, sleep, psychosocial factors and quality of life. This study will recruit 200 participants from Family Medicine Groups and Local Community Service Centers (CLSC) who have low back pain for at least three months. Participants will complete self-report questionnaires after recruitment as well as three and six months later. Participants will also complete a two-week electronic pain diary following the initial assessment. Information will be collected from medical databases to cross-validate information on health care utilization and pharmaceutical services. Results from this study will help us better understand the importance of pain variability in utilization of health care resources and treatment satisfaction. Results from this study can have direct implications for patients as it will allow to better target treatments to their pain experiences and optimize their health care. The knowledge acquired will be used to improve service delivery to low back pain patients and identify key areas that will guide clinicians in their treatment plan.