Knowledge about Pain Clinics and Pain Physician among General Practitioners: A Cross-sectional Survey

Abstract

Purpose/Objective: There is an ongoing debate about what qualifies one to be called a “pain physician” who can run the “Pain clinic”. Currently the discipline of Anaesthesiology is producing the majority of pain physicians. During literature search we were unable to find any Pakistani or other South Asian countries data available regards knowledge of general physicians (GPs) about pain clinics and pain physician. The main objective of the study was to assess the awareness of general practioners regarding existence of pain clinic and pain physician. Materials and Methods: A total of 411 general practioners were included in this cross sectional survey. A questionnaire consisting of 10 questions was designed to identify their knowledge about existence of pain clinics and pain physicians. Questionnaires were completed in the field and edited for the inconsistencies and in-completeness. Results: Only 52.6% of general practioners were aware about the existence of pain clinics. 37.5% believes that neurologists are the pain physicians and only 10.9% knew that pain clinics are run by anaesthesiologist. The vast majority (85%) are unaware about the modern pain relieving methods used in pain clinics. Conclusions: The survey indicates that nearly half of the general practioners are not aware about the existence of pain clinics & pain physicians and majority are unaware about new pain relieving methods.