Patient and Provider Attitudes, Beliefs, and Biases That Contribute to a Marginalized Process of Care and Outcomes in Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain. A Systematic Review. Part I: Clinical Care.

Objective Chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) outcomes are affected by numerous variables including the clinical conversation. When good therapeutic/working alliances are formed, congruent clinical conversations can lead to improved CMP outcomes. Identifying patient/provider attitudes, beliefs, and biases in CMP that can influence the clinical conversation, and thus clinical management decisions, is foundationally important. Design The aims of this systematic review were to 1) summarize the evidence of the attitudes and beliefs of patients and healthcare providers (HCPs) involved in the clinical conversation of CMP; 2) examine if/how these perceptions impacted the process of care. Methods A systematic search of CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, Sociology Database in ProQuest, and Web of Science used PRISMA guidelines. Included studies: vulnerable adult populations with chronic pain. Study bias was examined using the Downs and Black tool. Results Seven retrospective studies were included. HCPs demonstrated negative implicit biases toward minorities and women when making pharmaceutical management decisions. HCPs demonstrated negative implicit biases toward lower educated women when making referrals to multidisciplinary care. Unmet patient expectations resulted in higher drop-out rates at multidisciplinary pain management programs. Patients' trust was influenced by healthcare setting and patients often had limited options secondary to health insurance type/status. Conclusion These findings suggest that patients with CMP may experience a marginalized process of care due to HCPs' negative implicit biases, unmet patient expectations, and healthcare setting. Results suggest several factors may contribute to inequitable care and the recalcitrant nature of CMP, particularly in vulnerable populations with limited healthcare choices.