Pain coping skills training un-locks patient-centered pain care during the COVID- 19 lockdown.

Only 11 participants completed the program, and the planned goal of 25 participants was not reached. Participants were self-selected and convenience sampled, so they may have been more motivated than typical patients. The project used pre-test-post-test measurements, and no separate control group is reported in the results, so natural change, attention, or expectations cannot be ruled out. Most outcomes were patient self-report, which can be influenced by knowing they were in a program. Technology problems and scheduling meant many participants used recordings rather than live group sessions, so the group social component was not fully tested. Non-English speakers and people with acute psychiatric conditions were excluded. The results apply only to English-speaking adults without those conditions. Medication use and frequency of pharmaceutical interventions were not collected, so changes in medication use cannot be inferred. The project was done during a pandemic, so usual care and patient needs may not reflect normal conditions. The program combined pain neuroscience education, cognitive-behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, goal setting, problem-solving, and nonpharmacologic strategy exploration, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.

The authors reported no conflicts of interest.

Do not conclude that telehealth pain coping skills training definitely improves chronic pain care. This was an 11-person pre-test-post-test pilot with self-selected participants, no separate control group, and outcomes based on patient reports, so improvement may reflect attention, expectations, natural change, or selection.