REASONS FOR REPEATED MEDICAL VISITS AMONG PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC BACK PAIN

OBJECTIVE: This study identifies the key motivations of patients repea tedly seeking medical care for chronic back problems. DESIGN: We condu cted one-on-one, in-depth interviews with patients to discuss their ex periences with low back pain and its care. To validate our interpretat ion of the qualitative data, participants were mailed questionnaires l isting the themes identified in the interviews and asked to rate the i mportance to them of each of the themes. SETTING: Managed health care plans in Atlanta, Dallas, and Seattle. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-four patien ts (37% male, 63% female) who were 25 to 65 years of age and had three or more medically attended episodes of low back pain during the 3 yea rs preceding the study. MAIN RESULTS: In describing their motivations for seeking medical care for back pain, nearly all participants cited difficulty in performing normal activities and the desire to discover the cause of the pain. Other motivations for seeking medical care for back pain included increased pain and the desire for a diagnostic test or a new treatment. Many of the verbalized reasons for repeated medic al visits among patients with chronic back pain are probably best unde rstood as seeking validation of their suffering. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with chronic back pain report many unmet needs and expectations. Over all satisfaction might be improved if clinicians elicit patients' view s of underlying causes and their expectations from office visits.