Examining the Effectiveness and Acceptability of Internet-Delivered Psychological Pain Management for Regional and Rural Australians With Chronic Pain.
Blake F Dear, Lauren Staples, Olav Nielssen and 1 others
PMID 39960117WHAT IT FOUND
Regional and rural Australians with chronic pain who used a free internet pain course reported improved pain disability, depression and anxiety.
Pain intensity also improved. There was no control group.
Key findings
01Pain-related disability improved: 32% made a meaningful improvement and 14% a major improvement by post-treatment, and these improvements were maintained at 3-month follow-up.
02Depression and anxiety symptoms improved: 44% made a meaningful improvement and 23% a major improvement in depression, and 43% made a meaningful improvement and 25% a major improvement in anxiety, with regional patients showing similar improvement to major-city patients.
03The course was accepted: 72% completed treatment, and 38% were very satisfied and 31% satisfied overall.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
There was no control group, so the study cannot show that the internet course caused the improvements compared with other care or no care. Patients were often receiving care from other sources, including medication prescribers, so the contribution of the course alone cannot be separated. Only 740 of 1567 patients (47%) provided data at 3-month follow-up, so follow-up results are less certain. Only 22 patients were from remote or very remote locations, so the findings for the most isolated patients are limited.
Declared interests
The MindSpot Clinic is funded by the Australian government and services are at no cost to patients. Professors Dear and Titov are authors and developers of the Pain Course but derive no financial benefit or royalties from it or its use. B.F.D. is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leader Fellowship. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the improvements as proof that the internet course alone caused them. There was no control group, and patients were often receiving care from other sources, including medication prescribers.