ISSN: 2640-2734
Authors: Kiefer CL, Louw A*, Weil JL and Zimney K
Background: The chronic pain epidemic requires all healthcare providers to develop an updated, uniform understanding of modern pain science. Objective: To determine if a 2-hour pain neuroscience education lecture to physical therapy assistant (PTA) students yields any positive shifts in pain knowledge and attitudes and beliefs regarding chronic pain. Design: Pre and post-education survey Methods: A convenience sample of PTA students at two schools volunteered for the study. Students received a 2-hour pain neuroscience lecture, either in-person or live, online. Prior to and immediately following the presentation, knowledge of pain (revised neurophysiology of pain questionnaire) and attitudes and beliefs regarding pain (health care provider’s pain and impairment relationship scale and pain attitudes and beliefs scale) were administered. Results: Thirty-five students completed the pre- and post-education surveys. No significant changes were found in pain knowledge, (p = 0.241). Interestingly, nearly all (94.3%) of the students were exposed to pain neuroscience education prior to the lecture in their PTA program, with high pre-education pain knowledge scores then previous studies investigating student pain knowledge Significant changes were found for the health care provider’s pain and impairment relationship scale (p = 0.01), and pain attitudes and beliefs scale for biomedical beliefs (p = 0.014), but not the biopsychosocial scale (p = 0.142). Conclusion: PTA students in this study had a lot of previous exposure to pain education, leading to high pain knowledge levels. A lecture on pain neuroscience can shift physical therapy assistant students away from a pure biomedical view of chronic pain and increase their empathy and compassion towards patients with chronic pain, but it is not able to foster a stronger biopsychosocial view of chronic pain.
Keywords: Physical Therapy; Assistants; Pain Neuroscience Education; Chronic Pain
