Abstract
Purpose: 
To investigate the effects of multimodal rehabilitation programmes (MMRP) in primary care for patients with chronic pain. A second aim was to identify predictive factors for not being on sickness benefit at follow-up.
 
Methods: 
A prospective longitudinal cohort study of 234 patients, 34 men and 200 women, 18-65 years who participated in MMRP in primary care in two Swedish county councils. Pain, physical and emotional functioning, coping, health-related quality of life, work-related factors, sickness absence (sick leave, sickness compensation/disability pension) were evaluated prior to and one-year after MMRP.
Results: 
Patients reported small but significant improvements at one-year follow-up for all measures except satisfaction with vocation. The proportion of patients on sick leave decreased significantly at follow-up while there was no significant difference regarding the proportion of patients on sickness compensation/disability pension.
Conclusion: 
This study indicates that MMRP in primary care could be beneficial for patients with chronic pain and seems to have positive effects on pain, physical and emotional functioning, coping, and health-related quality of life.

LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF MULTIMODAL REHABILITATION IN PRIMARY CARE FOR PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC PAIN