This study is designed to determine if a brief educational program can alter the attitudes and knowledge of individuals with chronic back pain, which is likely to be non-structural in nature. Individuals will be randomly assigned to an experimental condition (performs written educational and emotional awareness exercises) or a control condition (completes a general health activities questionnaire). Comparisons will be made to assess the degree of centralized pain features and functional improvements at 1-month follow-up. A 10-month follow-up as a secondary endpoint is also planned.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
104
Patients complete a 15 to 20-minute on-line exercise that inquires about 5 domains: the degree of central sensitization symptoms, catastrophizing and kinesiophobia, personality factors, stressors that triggered or exacerbated the pain, and adverse childhood experiences.
Patients engage in a 15 to 20-minute on-line exercise examining their health behaviors in five domains: exercise, sleep, diet, hygiene, and social connections.
University of Michigan Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department
Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Brief Pain Inventory
Self-reported pain and dysfunction
Time frame: Change from baseline to 1-Month follow-up (with secondary 10-month follow-up)
Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System: Depression short form 8b
Self-reported depression
Time frame: Change from baseline to 1-Month follow-up (with secondary 10-month follow-up)
Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System: Anxiety short form 8a
Self-reported anxiety
Time frame: Change from baseline to 1-Month follow-up (with secondary 10-month follow-up)
Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System: Anger short form 5a
Self-reported anger
Time frame: Change from baseline to 1-Month follow-up (with secondary 10-month follow-up)
Pain attributions questionnaires
Two self-report questionnaires were developed to assess psychological and brain influences on pain. The 4-item psychological attribution scale assesses patients' beliefs that their thoughts and feelings and psychological therapy impacts pain, and the 3-item brain attribution scale assesses patient's beliefs that their pain is brain-based. Mean scores will be computed for both scales separately (0-4; higher scores indicating greater belief that pain is a brain-related \[brain attribution\] construct and that pain is affected by thoughts, feelings, and psychological interventions \[psychological attribution\])
Time frame: Change from baseline to 1-Month follow-up (with secondary 10-month follow-up)
Pain Stages of Change Questionnaire
The Pain Stages of Change questionnaire (Kerns, Rosenberg, Jamison, Caudill, \& Haythornthwaite, 1997): an overall readiness score will be calculated using mean scores of the four subscales. Readiness is the sum of patient mean ratings for contemplation (C; 1-5), action (A; 1-5), and maintenance (M; 1-5), minus the mean score for precontemplation (PC; 1-5): C + A + M - PC = Readiness. Higher scores indicate greater readiness.
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Time frame: Change from baseline to 1-Month follow-up (with secondary 10-month follow-up)
Pain Catastrophizing Scale
Pain Catastrophizing Scale (Sullivan et al., 1995): A summed score of the 13 catastrophizing items will be computed (0-52, higher scores indicate greater catastrophizing)
Time frame: Change from baseline to 1-Month follow-up (with secondary 10-month follow-up)
Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia
The Tampa Kinesiophobia Scale (Miller, Kori, \&Todd, 1991): A mean score of the 11 items will be computed (1-4, higher scores indicating greater kinesiophobia)
Time frame: Change from baseline to 1-Month follow-up (with secondary 10-month follow-up)
Satisfaction with Life Scale
The Satisfaction with Life Scale (Emmons, Larsen, \& Griffin, 1985): A mean score of the 5 items will be computed (1-7, higher scores indicating greater life satisfaction)
Time frame: Change from baseline to 1-month follow-up (with secondary 10-month follow-up)