OPEN Study: Pain Management Treatment Needs Interviews

Overview

Presently, there are few options for medically managing HIV-related painful peripheral sensory neuropathy (HIV-SN). Psychological treatments, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), represent a potentially viable addition to the treatment of painful HIV-SN. However, there is a scarcity of research on psychological treatment approaches for pain management in people with HIV. This study will use in-depth semi-structured interviews to examine the needs of people with painful HIV-SN for a psychologically-based pain management treatment that may be delivered over the Internet. Interview questions will examine participants' needs in terms of treatment content and delivery format. Men and women, ethnic minorities, and people who use recreational drugs will be sampled to ensure that interview responses reflect the views of people most commonly suffering from this condition. Approximately 30 people will be recruited for the study. The interviews will be audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded to identify themes. The interview responses will be used to develop and tailor a version of CBT for people with painful HIV-SN. It is hoped that tailoring the treatment based on the qualitative interview responses will increase the acceptability of the treatment and will improve treatment adherence rates for a future study.

This report is independent research supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR Post Doctoral Fellowship, Dr Whitney Scott, PDF-2015-08-059). The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health.

Conditions