TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluating chronic pain interventions in recent refugees and immigrant populations
T2 - A systematic review
AU - Altun, Areni
AU - Brown, Helen
AU - Sturgiss, Liz
AU - Russell, Grant
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Dr Nor Akma and Claire Hutton for their support during the title and abstract screen, and assessment of full texts for inclusion in this systematic review.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/5
Y1 - 2022/5
N2 - Objectives: Many studies investigating the management of chronic pain often exclude participation of people from refugee and immigrant backgrounds. This review seeks to understand and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions for chronic pain management when applied in the context of refugee and immigrant populations. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken using six databases and the PICO search strategy. Included studies were published in English, comprised of patients over 18 years of age and excluded cancer-related chronic pain. Results: Twenty-one papers met the inclusion criteria: 13 cohort studies and eight randomised control trials. The majority of interventions involved multidisciplinary or psychological interventions, with the remaining studies based on education, exercise therapy or culturally adapted information. Studies integrating multidisciplinary care to manage chronic pain showed more consistent improvements in pain intensity and function than other unimodal interventions. Conclusions: Multidisciplinary interventions reduce pain intensity, improve functional impairment, and alleviate other psychosocial symptoms exhibited chronic pain patients from refugee or immigrant backgrounds. Additional well-designed, large-scale studies are needed to decisively estimate the effectiveness of culturally adapted, multidisciplinary intervention programs over time. Practice Implications: Clinical practice may benefit from adapting interventions to better support the management of chronic pain in refugee and immigrant populations.
AB - Objectives: Many studies investigating the management of chronic pain often exclude participation of people from refugee and immigrant backgrounds. This review seeks to understand and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions for chronic pain management when applied in the context of refugee and immigrant populations. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken using six databases and the PICO search strategy. Included studies were published in English, comprised of patients over 18 years of age and excluded cancer-related chronic pain. Results: Twenty-one papers met the inclusion criteria: 13 cohort studies and eight randomised control trials. The majority of interventions involved multidisciplinary or psychological interventions, with the remaining studies based on education, exercise therapy or culturally adapted information. Studies integrating multidisciplinary care to manage chronic pain showed more consistent improvements in pain intensity and function than other unimodal interventions. Conclusions: Multidisciplinary interventions reduce pain intensity, improve functional impairment, and alleviate other psychosocial symptoms exhibited chronic pain patients from refugee or immigrant backgrounds. Additional well-designed, large-scale studies are needed to decisively estimate the effectiveness of culturally adapted, multidisciplinary intervention programs over time. Practice Implications: Clinical practice may benefit from adapting interventions to better support the management of chronic pain in refugee and immigrant populations.
KW - Chronic pain
KW - Culturally competent care
KW - Health equity
KW - Migrant
KW - Multidisciplinary interventions
KW - Refugee
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85114800820&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.pec.2021.08.021
DO - 10.1016/j.pec.2021.08.021
M3 - Review Article
AN - SCOPUS:85114800820
SN - 0738-3991
VL - 105
SP - 1152
EP - 1169
JO - Patient Education and Counseling
JF - Patient Education and Counseling
IS - 5
ER -