Internists and the chronic pain patient.

This study investigated the prevalence of chronic pain and the characteristics of the chronic pain population. Four hundred and seven Board Certified internists (with a 26% return rate) were surveyed to determine the characteristics of the population, treatment approaches used, treatment problems and outcomes, and the internists' educational needs. The results of this study suggest that there is a high prevalence of chronic pain with the majority of the patients being female and over 55 years of age. It was also found that internists attend to the disorder with a restricted range of treatments, patient reactions often interfere with the treatment of the disorder, and the internists have little or no formal education in the treatment of this disorder.