To cite this article:
Mehl-Madrona Lewis, Mainguy Barbara, and Plummer Julie. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. July 2016, ahead of print. doi:10.1089/acm.2015.0212.
Online Ahead of Print: July 15, 2016
Author information
Lewis Mehl-Madrona, MD, PhD,1,2,3,4 Barbara Mainguy, MA,5 and Julie Plummer, RN6
1Department of Research, Coyote Institute, Orono, ME.
2Family Medicine Residency, Eastern Maine Medical Center, Bangor, ME.
3Department of Family Medicine, University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, Bangor Clinical Campus, ME.
4Department of Psychiatry, Acadia Hospital, Bangor, ME.
5Department of Creative Arts Therapy, Coyote Institute, Orono, ME.
6Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth University School of Medicine, Hanover, NH.
ABSTRACT
Background:
Opiates are no longer considered the best strategy for the long-term
management of chronic pain. Yet, physicians have made many patients
dependent on them, and these patients still request treatment.
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies have been shown
to be effective, but are not widely available and are not often covered
by insurance or available to the medically underserved.
Methods: Group medical visits (GMVs) provided education about non-pharmacological methods for pain management and taught mindfulness techniques, movement, guided imagery, relaxation training, yoga, qigong, and t'ai chi. Forty-two patients attending GMVs for at least six months were matched prospectively with patients receiving conventional care.
Results: No one increased their dose of opiates. Seventeen people reduced their dose, and seven people stopped opiates. On a 10-point scale of pain intensity, reductions in pain ratings achieved statistical significance (p = 0.001). The average reduction was 0.19 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.12–0.60; p = 0.01). The primary symptom improved on average by −0.42 (95% CI −0.31 to −0.93; p = 0.02) on the My Medical Outcome Profile, 2nd version. Improvement in the quality-of-life rating was statistically significant (p = 0.007) with a change of −1.42 (95% CI = −0.59 to −1.62). In conventional care, no patients reduced their opiate use, and 48.5% increased their dose over the two years of the project.
Methods: Group medical visits (GMVs) provided education about non-pharmacological methods for pain management and taught mindfulness techniques, movement, guided imagery, relaxation training, yoga, qigong, and t'ai chi. Forty-two patients attending GMVs for at least six months were matched prospectively with patients receiving conventional care.
Results: No one increased their dose of opiates. Seventeen people reduced their dose, and seven people stopped opiates. On a 10-point scale of pain intensity, reductions in pain ratings achieved statistical significance (p = 0.001). The average reduction was 0.19 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.12–0.60; p = 0.01). The primary symptom improved on average by −0.42 (95% CI −0.31 to −0.93; p = 0.02) on the My Medical Outcome Profile, 2nd version. Improvement in the quality-of-life rating was statistically significant (p = 0.007) with a change of −1.42 (95% CI = −0.59 to −1.62). In conventional care, no patients reduced their opiate use, and 48.5% increased their dose over the two years of the project.
Conclusions:
GMVs that incorporated CAM therapies helped patients reduce opiate use.
While some patients found other physicians to give them the opiates
they desired, those who persisted in an environment of respect and
acceptance significantly reduced opiate consumption compared with
patients in conventional care. While resistant to CAM therapies
initially, the majority of patients came to accept and to appreciate
their usefulness. GMVs were useful for incorporating non-reimbursed CAM
therapies into primary medical care.
