SAN ANTONIO -- A personalized, online self-management program helped patients with pain syndromes improve coping skills and reduce stress and depression in two studies reported here.
Patients randomized to the self-management program demonstrated significant improvement in multiple social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes after six months (P<0.05 to P<0.01). Improvement in some parameters occurred within one month. A control group that was not exposed to the program showed no significant improvement.
"Our goal is to help people communicate better with providers, understand better how they can use social support, understand the comorbid conditions, like anxiety and depression, and develop cognitive skills to help get them through their pain episodes," said Emil Chiauzzi, PhD, of Inflexxion, the Newton, Mass. company that developed the program.
The online program, demonstrated at www.painACTION.com, employs patient-specific information to generate individualized self-management strategies.
Patient responses to assessments are analyzed by a "recommendation engine," which produces content recommendations designed to address each patient's informational and self-management needs.
Elements on the Web site include multimedia education units, a pain inventory, interactive tools that provide information based on patient-provider communication, and medication risk management.
"The content on the Web site is focused on teaching people practical skills to manage the behavioral side of pain," Jonas Bromberg, PsyD, also of Inflexxion, said in an interview.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/AAPM/18393