Chronic pain—defined as daily or significant pain that lasts more than three months—can be complicated to diagnose and treat. Because chronic pain conditions are clouded with uncertainties, patients often struggle with anxiety and depression, and they and their doctors often find these conditions challenging to discuss and manage, studies have indicated. A recent study of 200 adults with chronic neck or back pain , led by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign communication professor Charee Thompson, found that effective physician-patient communication during the initial consultation helps patients manage their uncertainties, including their fears, anxieties and confidence in their ability to cope with their condition.
"We found that providers and patients who perceive themselves and each other as competent medical communicators during consultations can alleviate patients' negative feelings of uncertainty such as distress and increase their positive feelings about uncertainties such as their sense of hope and beliefs in their pain-management self-efficacy," Thompson said. "Providers and patients successfully manage patients' uncertainty through two fundamental medical communication processes—informational and socioemotional, each of which can have important clinical implications." According to the study, informational competence reflects patients' abilities to accurately describe their symptoms and verify their understanding of doctors' explanations and instructions, a.