Living Well with Chronic Pain

Chronic pain conditions are common and difficult to cure. As much as 30% of adults in Norway experience moderate-to-severe chronic pain, i.e., pain having lasted more than 3 months. Chronic pain is also the most common cause of sick leave and disability pension in Norway. Despite a clear request from the authorities, e-health interventions for chronic pain has not yet been tested and implemented. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of an interactive e-health intervention for people living with chronic pain, using outcome measures such as pain intensity, pain acceptance, anxiety/depression and quality of life. The e-health intervention will first be tested in a pilot study with 50 patients with different pain diagnoses and eventually in a randomized controlled trial with a sample of 240 patients with different pain diagnoses. The intervention will consist of one face-to-face introductory group followed by 9 app-based modules containing cognitive behavioral pain self-management material. The 9 modules will be distributed over minimum 27 days (minimum 3 days per module). The participants in the randomized controlled trial will be randomly assigned to use the e-health intervention or to a treatment as usual control group. Both groups will receive outcome measures to complete at baseline and at 3, 6 and 12 months. Post-RCT, the EPIO study will also include a non-randomized group receiving the app-based EPIO program but without receiving an introduction session and follow up phone calls to examine potential benefits from receiving the app-based program only.