A randomized controlled study of EMDR versus treatment as usual in patients with chronic non-malignant pain

The International Association for the study of pain (IASP) recognizes that "many people report pain in the absence of regular damage or any other pathophysiological cause; usually this happens for reasons psychological, which must be accepted as pain (IASP, 2005)". Non-pharmacological therapy options are scarce. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) versus treatment as usual in a randomized controlled design to test whether this intervention reduces pain associated symptoms and improves affective symptoms and quality of life. Thirty-two patients from the Pain Management Clinic of the Hospital Germans Trias I Pujol in Barcelona, Spain, were included. Despite the underlying pathology, all patients were referred with a diagnosis “Chronic pain with difficult treatment” (338.29 CIE-9· MC) and they received 12 weekly 90-minute sessions. A battery of self-reported questionnaires assessing Quality of Life (EQ-5D-5L), Intensity pain (EVA), Depression and Anxiety (HAD) and Pain Disability Index were administered pre and post treatment. In addition, the experimental group was reassessed at 3-month follow-up. We found statistical significant changes in all scales in favor of the EMDR group at post-treatment and these results were maintained at 3 months of follow-up. The results suggest that EMDR is an effective tool in the treatment of chronic non-malignant pain by reducing pain associated and affective symptoms and improving Quality Of Life.

Conference

English

Nieves Arias
Joana Moreno

Arias, N., & Moreno, J.  (2017, June). A randomized controlled study of EMDR versus treatment as usual in patients with chronic non-malignant pain. Presentation (Benedikt L. Amann, Chair) at the 18th EMDR Europe Association Conference, Barcelona, Spain