Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-wq2xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T19:02:08.252Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Effectiveness of a Cognitive-Behavioural Treatment Approach to Work-related Upper Limb Pain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2014

Susan H. Spence  and
Elizabeth Kennedy
Susan H. Spence*
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Elizabeth Kennedy
Affiliation:
Avoca Clinic, Prince of Wales Hospital
*
Department of Psychology, University of Sydney, NSW 2006
Get access

Abstract

The present study investigated the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioural approach to the management of chronic work-related upper limb pain. Clients included three females who had experienced severe upper limb pain for 7, 3.5 and 1.5 years respectively and whose condition had been labelled by medical specialists as occupational overuse syndrome. Clients commenced treatment in a sequential manner, following a staggered baseline monitoring phase in order to produce a multiple baseline design across cases. Treatment involved 8 sessions over a 4-week period, covering pain management procedures, cognitive restructuring of maladaptive cognitions, relaxation training and EMG biofeedback. All cases showed some improvement in pain, distress and interference caused by pain. In addition, changes in depression, anxiety, coping strategies and sleep disturbance were reported. Therapy gains were maintained at the 6-month follow-up assessment for 2 of the 3 cases.

Type
Research Article
Information
Behaviour Change , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , March 1989 , pp. 12 - 23
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bammer, G & Blignault, I. (in press). More than a pain in the arms: A review of the consequences of developing occupational overuse syndromes. Journal of Occupational Health and Safety — Australia and New Zealand.Google Scholar
Beck, A.T. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571.Google Scholar
Bergner, M., Bobbitt, R.A., Kressel, S., Pollard, W.E., Gibson, B.S. & Morris, J.R. (1976). The Sickness Impact Profile: Conceptual formulation and methodology for the development of a health status measure. International Journal of Health Services, 6, 393–415.Google Scholar
Brooks, P.M. (1986). Occupational pain syndromes. The Medical Journal of Australia, 144, 170–171.Google Scholar
Hocking, B. (1987). Epidemiological aspects of ‘repetition strain injury’ in Telecom Australia. The Medical Journal of Australia, 147, 218–222.Google Scholar
Lucire, Y. (1986). Neurosis in the workplace. Medical Journal of Australia, 145, 323–327.Google Scholar
Melzack, R. (1975). The McGill Pain Questionnaire: Major properties and scoring methods. Pain, 1, 277–299.Google Scholar
National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (1986). Repetition strain injury: A report and model code of practice. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.Google Scholar
Nicholas, M. (1988). An evaluation of treatment of chronic low back pain. University of Sydney: unpublished doctoral thesis.Google Scholar
Philips, H.C. (1988). The effects of behavioural treatment on chronic pain. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 25, 365–379.Google Scholar
Putz-Anderson, V. (1988). Cumulative trauma disorders: A manual for musculoskeletal diseases of the upper limbs. London: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
Rosenstial, A.K. & Keefe, R.J. (1983). The use of coping strategies in chronic low back pain patients: Relationship to patient characteristics and current adjustment. Pain, 17, 33–44.Google Scholar
Spielberger, C.D., Gorsuch, R.L. & Cushene, R.E. (1970). Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Calif: Consulting Psychologists Press.Google Scholar
Turk, D.C. & Flor, H. (1984). Etiological theories and treatments for chronic back pain. II. Psychological models and interventions. Pain, 19, 209–233.Google Scholar
Turk, D.C., Meichenbaum, D. & Genest, M. (1983). Pain and behavioural medicine: A cognitive behavioural perspective. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Turner, J.A. & Chapman, C.J. (1982). Psychological interventions for chronic pain: A critical review. 11. Operant conditioning, hypnosis, and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Pain, 12, 23–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, S.F. (1985). The standardised assessment and rehabilitation of repetition strain injuries in a clinical setting. Journal of Occupational Health and Safety — Australia and New Zealand, 1, 126–129.Google Scholar