The Mobile PTSD Coach App in Acute Injury Survivors
Condition: Chronic Pain; Acute Pain Due to Trauma; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
MeSH terms: Chronic Pain; Acute Pain; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This project is a preliminary randomized controlled trial testing the potential impact of the
      PTSD Coach mobile application at reducing posttraumatic stress and pain symptoms among
      acutely injured trauma patients. Immediately following the injury, patients will be randomly
      assigned to use the PTSD Coach app, or to the treatment as usual condition.
    

Detailed description: 
      Traumatic injury is the leading cause of mortality in the U.S. for young people, and a source
      of long-term morbidity in all ages. A majority of trauma patients report chronic pain (CP)
      and disability at 4-months (30%- 79%) and 12-months (63%) post-injury. Maladaptive
      psychological processes have a stronger association with the transition to CP than does
      injury severity. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms (e.g., intrusions, avoidance
      and hyperarousal) occur in up to 22% of post-injury patients and herald the transition from
      acute to CP. Although psychological interventions can modify PTSD symptoms, and reduce CP, it
      is unknown if early intervention to prevent PTSD symptoms can prevent post-injury CP
      altogether. "PTSD Coach" is a publicly available, free, mobile app that provides scalable and
      psychosocial support modeled on principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy. PTSD Coach has
      helped Veterans and civilians to manage PTSD.

      This project will test whether PTSD Coach can reduce post-injury maladaptive psychological
      processes and thereby prevent post-injury CP. The preventive intervention will be targeted
      towards those at the highest-risk of developing PTSD.

      The investigators propose to test the efficacy of the PTSD Coach app vs. treatment as usual
      (TAU) among a sample of acute physical injury patients, to: 1) Determine engagement with PTSD
      Coach, by measuring frequency of use over 4-weeks and assessing ratings of usefulness and
      qualitative feedback: it is expected that >80% of PTSD Coach users will use the app at least
      once a week, and will rate it as at least somewhat helpful; 2) Estimate effect on CP symptoms
      by measuring PTSD and pain intensity at 1- and 3-months. The effect of the intervention on
      pain interference, disability, and coping self-efficacy will also be explored.
    

Intervention name(s): PTSD Coach mobile application
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): The PTSD Coach app is publicly available for free, and draws on cognitive behavioral therapy components to help participants learn, manage, and cope with their PTSD symptoms in real time.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Participants will be randomly assigned to either the experimental condition (PTSD Coach app usage), or the treatment as usual condition.
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention