Group Psychotherapy for Chronic Pain: A Meta-Analysis

Chronic pain is common among adults and frequently interferes with regular functioning while reducing quality of life. Though pharmacological approaches are used most frequently to treat pain-related issues, the side effects often lead to other problems. Group therapy has been used and studied for decades in treating pain although its general efficacy in this is not clear. We conducted a meta-analysis to determine group therapy's effectiveness in reducing pain intensity and improving adjacent issues. Potential randomized clinical trials were selected from various databases and included if published between 1990 and 2020, investigated group treatment's efficacy for pain-related concerns, measured pain intensity, included a comparison condition, and reported sufficient data in each trial arm at the first postassessment. We included 29 studies representing 4,571 participants in group therapy being treated for pain. The analysis yielded a significant, small effect when group was contrasted against passive control groups (g = 0.26, 95% CI [0.11, 0.41], p = .001) on the reduction of pain intensity. Two variables were found to moderate group therapy's efficacy: gender composition of groups and theoretical orientation. Although effects on reducing pain intensity are small, group psychotherapy should be considered a viable treatment option for chronic pain patients given the lower risks of side effects compared to pharmaceutical analgesics and comparable effects compared to other chronic conditions.