The Effect of Telephone Consultation and Follow-up on Pain Reduction in Multiple Sclerotic Patients: a Randomized Clinical Trial

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) suffer from pain. Usually, the severity of other symptoms causes the pain of these patients to be ignored or considered to be normal. This study was carried out to determine the impact of telephone counseling and follow-up on pain in patients with MS.

This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 70 MS patients attending the multiple sclerosis Clinic at Sina (Farshchian) Hospital, Hamadan, Iran. A two-month intervention was administered, with the phone calls organized as follows: Week 1 (two calls revolving around medication schedule Week 2 (two calls about a diet plan, Week 3 (two calls about the exercise schedule،Week 4 (two calls about the role of stress in MS; and Weeks 5 to 8 (four weekly reminder calls to ensure patient compliance with the contents delivered within the first 4 weeks. Pain assessment scale was completed before and after the intervention.

The mean of pain severity in the experimental group before and after the consultation with telephone follow up was statistically significant (P=0/001). The mean of pain severity in the experimental group after intervention was reduced to 4.32 with a standard deviation of 0.17. However, the mean and standard deviation of pain in the experimental group also showed a downward trend. The comparison of the mean pain severity in the two groups after the intervention showed a significant difference (P<0.001).

Telephone counseling together with telephone follow-up reduces pain in patients with multiple sclerosis and improves patient health. Therefore, counseling with telephone follow up is recommended in reducing pain intensity of patients.