StudyU: a new tool to self manage chronic pain

A list of potential interventions, all available locally at no or low cost to the participant, includes: • Walking program set up during visit to physiotherapist or exercise physiologist (on Chronic Disease Management Plan) • Healthy Ageing Group Exercise • Online CBT eg MindSpot • Meditation – eg smiling mind app • Pain neuroscience education eg Curable app • Gym program • Yoga program • Pilates • Aquarobics • Hydrotherapy classes • Tai chi. This is delivered for 6-12 weeks at a frequency chosen by the patient. Participants may choose up to 2 interventions each to be undertaken over a 6-12 week period until November 2023. StudyU (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=health.studyu) is an innovative online self-management treatment platform—it allows patients to rigorously compare different pain management interventions using gold-standard N-of-1 trials (personalised single patient behavioural experiments), empowering them to adopt interventions that help their pain most. The StudyU mobile App will support patients to assess the effect of the nonpharmacological pain self-management intervention. The exact intervention components, design features and timeframes for interventions and washout periods will be decided through each patient’s design consultation with the study team. The length of the baseline and the treatment period will differ depending on the intervention selected. We have designed an example from our pilot work: If a patient selects an intervention e.g. a 5 week exercise program to trial over an 8-week period using a Single Case Experimental Design (SCED) design, then a 1 week A – 5 week B – 2 week A design would be used. - interventions will be delivered by health professionals or trained instructors - the mode of delivery can be face-to-face, group, individual, or online, depending on patient preference - most programs eg the gym program, involves weekly 1 h classes for 6 consecutive weeks - the actual intervention will be selected by the patient and their GP in a consultation - participants can undertake only one intervention at any one time, but may test another intervention after finishing their trial if they wish - strategies used to assess or monitor adherence include participant self report daily. - internal app analytics will monitor fidelity to the intervention.