Objectives: Although treatment satisfaction is recommended in the Pediatric Initiative on Methods, Measurement, and Pain Assessment in Clinical Trials (PedIMMPACT) as a core outcome measure in pediatric chronic pain clinical trials, no results regarding this outcome measure have been reported to date for intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment in children and adolescents. The aim of the present study was to close this gap and investigate the treatment satisfaction of pediatric patients with different chronic pain disorders who received intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment and who were followed up over 4 years.
Methods: Treatment satisfaction and treatment outcome were assessed immediately after and 6, 12, and 48 months after intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment for N=104 patients (Mage=13.5; SD=2.2).
Results: Patients and their parents were highly satisfied with the treatment and strongly agreed in their ratings. Emotional distress before treatment and younger age increased the risk of being dissatisfied. Analyses revealed that treatment satisfaction was independent of treatment outcome.
Discussion: Taken together, the results show that treatment satisfaction is not associated with treatment outcome. A global judgment of satisfaction seems to be an independent outcome measure but may be inappropriate for measuring the multifaceted construct of satisfaction. Instead, separate satisfaction ratings in specific areas, for example, treatment methods or outcome, may be more suitable.