Telehealth Therapy for Chronic Pain: Comparison of In-person vs. Video-administered ACT for Pain

The primary outcome measure for the proposed study is the Brief Pain Inventory Short Form Interference subscale (BPI; Cleeland & Ryan, 1994). This 7-item scale, recommended by the IMMPACT group as a measure of functioning (Dworkin et al., 2005), measures the degree to which pain interferes with various aspects of life, including mobility, social activities, and mood. Scores range from 0 (least interference due to pain) to 10 (most interference due to pain).

Time frame: 8 weeks

The Brief Pain Inventory Short Form (BPI; Cleeland & Ryan, 1994) includes a 4-item pain severity subscale measuring the level of pain over the past week on average, at its worst, at its least, and currently. This measure is recommended by the IMMPACT group as a pain assessment tool (Dworkin et al., 2005). Scores range from 0 (least pain severity) to 10 (most pain severity).

Time frame: 8 weeks

Anxiety will be assessed with the 20-item Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale-Short Form (PASS-20; McCracken & Dhingra, 2002). Pain anxiety captures fears patients associate with their symptoms, which are typically associated with the belief that their pain signals harm. High levels of pain anxiety compromise patient's activity levels, participation in rehabilitation, and performance on functional tests. The instrument is a valid and reliable measure of anxiety symptoms in pain populations (McCracken et al., 1996; Roelofs et al., 2004). The PASS-20 items are scored on a 6-point Likert scale and assess cognitive, escape/avoidance, fear, and physiological anxiety dimensions. Internal consistency is high and correlation between the short and long form is excellent (alpha=.81; r=.97). This measure has been recommended by the VA and demonstrated sensitivity to treatment in the pilot sample (National VA Pain Outcomes Working Group, 2003). Scores range from 0 (least anxiety) to 100 (most anxiety).

Time frame: 8 weeks

The PHQ-9 is a multipurpose instrument for screening, diagnosing, monitoring and measuring the severity of depression. The PHQ-9 incorporates DSM-IV depression diagnostic criteria with other leading major depressive symptoms into a brief self-report tool. The tool rates the frequency of the symptoms which factors into the scoring severity index. Scores range from 0 (lowest level of depressive symptoms) to 27 (highest level of depressive symptoms).

Time frame: 8 weeks

The 19-item Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI; Buysse et al., 1989) is the most commonly used measure of self-rated sleep quality, with good reliability (alpha = .83, test-retest = .85) and validity (kappa = 0.75) for distinguishing good and poor sleepers. A survey recently conducted by the IMMPACT group indicated that sleep is one of the domains most important to patients with chronic pain (Turk et al., 2008), and the PSQI is the scale most frequently used to evaluate sleep quality in studies of chronic pain patients (Cole et al., 2007). Scores range from 0 (good sleep) to 42 (poor sleep).

Time frame: 8 weeks

The 17-item PTSD Checklist (Weathers et al., 1994) will be used to assess PTSD symptoms. In combat veterans, this questionnaire has high test-retest reliability (0.96) and validity as indicated by a kappa of 0.64 for diagnosis of PTSD using the SCID (Weathers et al., 1993). Scores range from 17 (low PTSD) to 85 (high PTSD).

Time frame: 8 weeks

6-item self-report measure of mental health-related quality of life. Subscale of the Medical Outcomes Study 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12; Ware et al., 1994). This measure is widely used with populations with chronic disease. The Physical and Mental Component Summary scores correlate .91 and .92 with the corresponding scores derived from the SF-36, and 2-week test-retest reliability correlations were .89 and .76 (Ware et al., 1994). The Short Form Health Survey is recommended by the IMMPACT group (Dworkin et al., 2005). Scores range from 0 (lowest functioning) to 100 (highest functioning).

Time frame: 8 weeks

Physical health-related quality of life will be measured using the Physical Component Summary score of the Medical Outcomes Study 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12; Ware et al., 1994). This measure is widely used with populations with chronic disease. The Physical and Mental Component Summary scores correlate .91 and .92 with the corresponding scores derived from the SF-36, and 2-week test-retest reliability correlations were .89 and .76 (Ware et al., 1994). The Short Form Health Survey is recommended by the IMMPACT group (Dworkin et al., 2005). Scores range from 0 (lowest functioning) to 100 (highest functioning).

Time frame: 8 weeks

The West Haven-Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI; Kerns et al., 1985) contains 52 items forming 12 subscales. For this study, we used four subscales assessing various types of activities. Household Chores (5 items); Outdoor Work (5 items); Activities Away From Home (4 items); and Social Activities (4 items). The MPI has been used extensively in outcome research with heterogeneous samples of chronic pain patients, including veterans, and has demonstrated sensitivity to treatment change (Altmaier et al., 1992; Mikail et al., 1993). Individual items are rated on a 7-point Likert scale from 0-6, and subscales are scored by averaging items together. Therefore, the score for Part III, General Activity, is composed of an average of the 18 items in the Household Chores (5 items); Outdoor Work (5 items); Activities Away From Home (4 items); and Social Activities (4 items) subscales. The final score ranges from 0 (lowest level of activity) to 6 (highest level of activity).

Time frame: 8 weeks