Physical activity with person-centred guidance supported by a digital platform for persons with chronic widespread pain: A randomized controlled trial.

Participants and physiotherapists could not be blinded to group allocation, which may affect self-reported outcomes. The study did not adjust for multiple comparisons among secondary outcomes. 29 participants were lost to follow-up, and those lost differed between groups in age, self-reported physical activity, and mental fatigue. Analyses of change over time included only measured follow-up values, so missing outcomes were not imputed. Physical activity was self-reported, and the study did not know how many participants reached their activity goals. The results apply only to the digital platform used and may not generalize to other platforms. The trial compared whole support packages, so it cannot show whether the phone call, the digital platform, or the initial health plan caused any outcome difference. The reported active control group size is inconsistent: randomization states 70 participants, while the baseline table lists 69.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The supplied text does not state a funding source.

Do not read the fatigue difference as proof that a phone call is better than digital support overall. The primary pain outcome was null, the fatigue finding was a secondary outcome without adjustment for multiple comparisons, and both groups received the same initial person-centred physiotherapy health plan.