Online Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for chronic pain
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Testing the feasibility of Internet-administered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for patients with chronic pain: A randomized controlled trial
IRAS ID
156856
Contact name
Lance McCracken
Contact email
Research summary
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is associated with clinically meaningful long-term improvements in function and quality of life among patients with chronic pain. However, much of the research to date on ACT for chronic pain has been conducted in the tertiary care setting, and research is needed to determine whether ACT can be successfully delivered using a cost-effective, community-based model.
To address these challenges, this study aims to evaluate the feasibility of a newly developed therapist-assisted Internet delivery of Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT) for patients with chronic pain. As a secondary aim, the study will test the proof of concept of the online treatment in terms of its potential to contribute to changes in pain-related outcomes and therapeutic process variables.
The study will use a randomized controlled treatment design to test the feasibility of the online ACT intervention and to compare it with medical treatment as usual. Initial usability testing of the online treatment will be undertaken with 10 patients. Subsequently, ninety individuals with chronic pain will be recruited from the pain management clinic at St. Thomas’ Hospital and randomized to receive the online treatment or treatment as usual. Participants will complete assessment questionnaires online at pre- and post-treatment and at 3 and nine month follow-up intervals.REC name
London - Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/1936
Date of REC Opinion
1 Dec 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion