Implementation-Effectiveness of the Power Over Pain Portal for Patients Awaiting a Tertiary Care Consultation for Chronic Pain: Pilot Study Protocol (Preprint)

Abstract

Chronic pain (CP) affects about 8 million people in Canada. Access to CP care is challenging and there is no robust monitoring system to support patient care and decision-making. The Power Over Pain (POP) Portal was developed by people living with CP, healthcare providers, researchers, health system decision makers, policy makers, and community partners to address these concerns. The POP Portal is a comprehensive virtual platform that provides rapid access to a continuum of free, evidenced-informed resources for the self-management of CP, mental health, and substance use health. The POP portal also offers self-assessment tools that enable users to track their progress and receive personalized recommendations.

This hybrid implementation-effectiveness type III pilot study aims to determine the feasibility (i.e., recruitment, integration, facilitators and barriers, patient engagement, usability, and acceptability) of the POP Portal’s implementation for people waiting for care at a tertiary pain clinic.

A cohort of 80 adults living with pain will be recruited from the waitlist of a tertiary care pain clinic over a 3-month period. Following an orientation to the Portal, participants will be encouraged to use the Portal according to their needs and preferences. They will also be asked to complete questionnaires at baseline (0-months) and 3-month follow-up. Primary feasibility measures will include recruitment and retention rates, and Portal’s acceptability using the Acceptability E-Scale. We will also measure usability with the System Usability Scale (SUS), evaluate engagement through Portal analytics, and identify facilitators and barriers via semi-structured interviews with 12-15 study participants. These interviews will further assess participants’ acceptability and usability of the Portal. Exploratory measures will include pain severity, pain-related interference, self-efficacy, coping strategies, and symptoms of anxiety and depression.

We will present descriptive data on the cohort’s sex/gender, age, rural/urban status, ethnic background, acceptability, usability, and feasibility. Measures of central tendency will be reported for continuous variables and frequencies/proportions for categorical variables. We will also present change to clinical outcomes across time, and a synthesis of qualitative/thematic data.

Most patients awaiting care at a tertiary pain clinic would benefit from improved access to pain education, self-management resources, and peer support. We will move forward with a multi-site study to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the PoP Portal among patients waiting for a tertiary care consultation if the feasibility of recruiting and retaining patients is demonstrated.