ABSTRACT
This chapter provides strong support for the efficacy and cost-efficiency of multidisciplinary chronic pain management. Interventional approaches to the management of chronic pain are commonly used, despite the extremely weak empirical support for their long-term efficacy. Much of the overall benefit associated with using interventional measures within the context of a comprehensive multidisciplinary chronic pain management program is likely at least partially due to a placebo effect. Patient expectations regarding the efficacy of a multidisciplinary chronic pain management program are also thought to be related to outcomes, and these can be positively affected through the use of interventional techniques. Practitioners involved in the multidisciplinary treatment of individuals with chronic pain face significant challenges in causing their patients to adopt life-changing habits in order to assist them in reducing the disabling impact of symptoms. These include, exercise, smoking cessation, dietary changes, and sometimes change of vocation.
