Kicked off in December 2020, a third stream of the Value of Treatment project on Transversal Topics is officially underway over a three-year period from 2021 to 2023. A case study on chronic pain has begun and soon a case study on sleep and wake disorders is to follow, potentially among others.

The group study on chronic pain, chaired by Professor Rolf-Detlef Treede nominated by the European Pain Federation (EFIC), includes experts nominated by the European Academy of Neurology (EAN), the European Psychiatric Association (EPA) and patient representatives from Pain Alliance Europe (PAE), officially began its work in December 2020 and a final report study is expected to be released by the end of 2022.

The objectives of the study have been defined as follows:

1) To explore the patient pathway of adults of working age in three selected diseases: fibromyalgia, painful diabetic neuropathy and non-specific low-back pain.

2) To compare Interdisciplinary Multimodal Chronic Pain Management with current care = monomodal therapy (drug or physiotherapy or psychotherapy alone) in adults of working age.

The study will focus on the following gaps:
a. Long waiting times to access primary care (GPs)
b. Lack of referrals to secondary care between primary care – secondary care & tertiary care (for a and c).

For more information, please visit the VOT Transversal Topics page in the Value of Treatment project section of the website: