Chronic pain affects more than 20% of Canadians and is associated with significant impacts on physical function, mental health, and quality of life. Despite efforts to improve access to multidisciplinary pain care through centralized referral systems, many patients continue to experience prolonged wait times before receiving treatment. This study evaluates a self-guided digital psychological intervention designed to support chronic pain self-management during the waiting period for specialized pain care. The intervention was developed through a collaboration between the Transitional Pain Service and ManagingLife and aims to improve access to evidence-based psychological support, enhance self-management skills, and reduce pain-related distress among individuals living with chronic pain.
The Advancing Online Psychology Tools for Chronic Pain (ADOPT-CP) intervention provides participants with access to the Manage My Pain (MMP) platform, including a self-guided Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)-based digital psychology program and Solace, an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled conversational support tool for chronic pain. Together, these tools are designed to support pain self-management, emotional coping, and engagement in care. This study will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary clinical effects of the ADOPT-CP intervention among individuals waiting to access multidisciplinary chronic pain services through the Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute (TAPMI). The intervention aims to provide accessible psychological support and self-management resources during the waiting period for specialized pain care.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
60
The intervention, Manage My Pain (MMP), is a clinically validated app-based platform that supports individuals with chronic pain in self-managing their symptoms and improving communication and engagement with their care team.
Weekly emailed pain self-management resources introduced during the Toronto Academic Pain Medicine Institute (TAPMI) orientation
Women's College Hospital
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Trial feasibility
Measured according to the CONSORT criteria and include: eligibility rate, recruitment rate, retention rate, measure completion, absence of or minor adverse events.
Time frame: 10 weeks
Engagement with the digital ADOPT-CP intervention
Measured via MMP app analytics (usage rates, completion of psychology program, etc.)
Time frame: 10 weeks
Acceptability and Appropriateness of the ADOPT-CP intervention
The Treatment Evaluation Inventory-Short Form (TEI-SF) is a self-report measure assessing the acceptability and perceived appropriateness of a treatment or intervention, with higher scores indicating greater treatment acceptability.
Time frame: 10 weeks
Acceptability and Adherence of the ADOPT-CP intervention
The Treatment Acceptability/Adherence Scale (TAAS) is a self-report measure assessing perceived acceptability of an intervention and anticipated or actual adherence, with higher scores indicating greater acceptability and adherence.
Time frame: 10 weeks
Experience using the ADOPT-CP intervention
a semi-structured interview guide will be used to explore participant experiences, barriers and facilitators to use, acceptability, engagement, and opportunities to refine the digital intervention prior to a larger trial.
Time frame: 14 weeks
Quality of Life and Pain Interference
Modified PROMIS-29 Health Domains (Quality of Life and Pain Interference 8a): A validated patient-reported outcome system assessing the impact of health conditions on physical, mental, and social functioning. Higher scores indicate greater pain interference and worse health-related quality of life, while lower scores indicate better functioning and quality of life.
Time frame: 10 weeks
Pain Acceptance
Measured by the Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire-Short Form: A validated self-report measure of acceptance of chronic pain. Higher scores indicate greater acceptance of chronic pain, including continued activity engagement and reduced avoidance of pain-related experiences.
Time frame: 10 weeks
Psychological Flexibility
Measured by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II): A validated self-report measure of psychological inflexibility and experiential avoidance. Higher scores indicate greater psychological inflexibility and experiential avoidance, while lower scores indicate greater psychological flexibility.
Time frame: 10 weeks
Kinesiophobia
Measured by the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK): a validated self-report questionnaire used to assess fear of movement and fear of re-injury. Higher scores indicate greater fear of movement.
Time frame: 10 weeks
Pain Resiliency
Measured by the Pain Resiliency Scale: Measures how well a person can adapt and maintain function despite chronic pain. Higher scores indicate greater resilience in coping with chronic pain, while lower scores indicate reduced adaptive coping.
Time frame: 10 weeks
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