Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of a Tele-Rehabilitation Program in the Treatment of Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain
Chronic Pain
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Chronic Pain focused on measuring Chronic Pain, Telerehabilitation, Telemedicine, Physical Therapy
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Aged between 18 and 60 years
- Seeking treatment for any chronic musculoskeletal pain of at least 3 points in a 0 to 10 Pain Numerical Rating Scale
- Able to read and understand Portuguese
With internet access.
- Chronic Pain will be defined as pain lasting more than 12 weeks.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Present neurological symptoms (nerve root compromise, or sensation deficits)
- Present serious spinal pathologies (e.g., fracture, tumor, inflammatory, autoimmune, and infectious diseases)
- Present serious cardiovascular and metabolic diseases (e.g., coronary heart disease, cardiac insufficiency, decompensated diabetes)
- Recent orthopaedic surgery (over the last 12 months)
- Scheduled to undergo surgery in the next 6 months, or pregnancy
If have any contraindication to exercise
- We will perform a pre-screening for physical activity participation at baseline using the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q) Portuguese version to rule out any contraindication to participate in physical activity.
Sites / Locations
- Rua Cesário Galeno, 448/475Recruiting
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Experimental
Active Comparator
Internet-Based Pain Education and Exercise
Online Booklet
Patients allocated to the intervention group will receive a login and password for individual access to the website designed for the study. The content of this intervention will include videos and animations based on pain education, physical activity promotion and general exercises. The pain education component will be based on the E-pain intervention developed by Reis et al (2017), which includes nine main features: (1) acceptance, (2 and 3) education about pain, (4) sleep hygiene, (5) recognizing stress and negative emotions, (6) increasing positive coping in lifestyle, (7) exercises, (8) communication and (9) relapse prevention. The exercise component will include general exercises aiming to improve strength, flexibility, control and coordination. Patients in this group will also receive weekly text messages and a health coaching over the telephone. The text messages will include information on the benefits of exercises, motivation, and positive messages about dealing with pain.
The patients allocated to the control group will have access to an online booklet containing general information about self-management of chronic pain, including pain education, advice on healthy lifestyle and sleeping habits and promotion of exercises. They will also receive one phone call at week 4 and text messages once a week during the study period.