[Measures of success in treatment of chronic back pain: pain intensity, disability and functional capacity: determinants of treatment success in multimodal day clinic setting].

INTRODUCTION: The empirical findings on risk factors for a favorable/unfavorable outcome upraised via pain intensity, disability and functional capacity after empirically well-evaluated multimodal treatment are inconsistent. The objective of this study was to analyze the relevance of psychosocial and pain-related variables for therapeutic outcome in an unselected sample of patients with chronic non-specific back pain (CBP).
METHODS: Included were 681 patients with CBP referred to an outpatient-based multidisciplinary pain rehabilitation program and 320 took part in a survey 12 months later. Before, directly after and 12 months after the program the patients received a questionnaire which contained pain-related items on pain intensity, disability, self-reported functional capacity which were defined as outcome variables, psychological items (anxiety, depression) and work-related items which represented probable predictor variables. Multivariable regression analyses were calculated to estimate the contribution of the selected parameters on pain intensity, disability and functional capacity.
RESULTS: The calculated regressions showed only a moderate ability to predict or explain the outcomes pain intensity, disability and functional capacity. However, depression and body mass index (BMI) were significantly related to pain-related therapeutic outcome.