How Is Chronic Pain Managed in Rural Australia? A Qualitative Study Exploring Rural Healthcare Professional and Consumer Experiences

Introduction: Guideline-based care for chronic pain is variably provided. Existing data on chronic pain management in Australia come primarily from metropolitan samples. As the initial investigations for a wider needs assessment, we sought to understand how chronic pain is managed in rural Australia, focused on investigating the gap between guideline-recommended care and provided care. 

Methods: We conducted semistructured interviews with rural healthcare professionals who treat patients with chronic pain and rural consumers affected by chronic pain. We asked healthcare professionals what treatments they deliver to patients with chronic pain. We asked consumers to describe the healthcare service providers they had accessed for pain care and the treatments they received from these providers. We utilised content analysis to gain an understanding of what care for chronic pain is being provided and compared these findings to guideline recommendations. 

Results: We interviewed 15 healthcare professionals and 27 consumers. Both healthcare professionas and consumers reported minimal use of most first-line management strategies. We also found differences between healthcare professional and consumer reports of pain care. Healthcare professionals frequently described delivering guideline-aligned pain care and consumers frequently described receiving care that contradicted guidelines. We identified challenges with rural access to pain care services, including minimal usage of telehealth services. 

Conclusions: Given the identified gaps in care, future research may consider ways of improving rural access to pain care services, including investigating ways to increase uptake of telehealth services, and how to shift consumer expectations of pain care.