A Profile of Patients in a VA Pain Clinic
Chronic Pain in Veterans
David Drake, MD, William Beckworth, MD, Rashelle Brown, MS, Lennox McNeary, MD, David Cifu, MD, and David Kim, MD
At the time of this writing, Dr. Drake was a faculty member in the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PMR) and the director of the Pain Management Fellowship Program, Dr. Beckworth was a resident physician in the department of PMR, Ms. Brown was a doctoral student in psychology, Dr. McNeary was a recent medical school graduate, Dr. Cifu was the chairman of the PMR department, and Dr. Kim was a pain management fellow, all at the Medical College of Virginia at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond. In addition, Drs. Drake and Cifu were faculty members at Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center (HHMVAMC), Richmond, VA. Currently, Dr. Drake is the medical director of the USAG Schweinfurt Health clinic, Wurzberg MEDDAC, Bavaria, Germany, Ms. Brown is a researcher at the Parkinson's Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Center of HHMVAMC, Dr. McNeary is a resident physician in the department of PMR at William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, MI, and Dr. Kim is a pain management physician in private practice in Warrenton, VA.
What characterizes veterans referred to chronic pain clinics—and which of these characteristics, if any, are associated with a higher pain score? To find out, these investigators considered patients at a regional VA pain clinic.