Internet Intervention for Adolescents With Chronic Pain
Condition: Chronic Pain; Abdominal Pain; Headache
MeSH terms: Chronic Pain; Headache; Abdominal Pain
Study type: Interventional
Phase: Phase 2

Summary: 
      The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of a web-based (i.e., internet)
      behavioral program to reduce pain and improve functioning in children and adolescents with
      chronic pain. We hypothesize that children and adolescents in families that receive the
      web-based behavioral program will report reduced pain levels and improved daily functioning
      compared to children and their parents who receive online patient education.
    

Detailed description: 
      An estimated 15% to 30% of otherwise healthy children and adolescents suffer from recurrent
      or chronic pain such as headache, abdominal pain, and musculoskeletal pain. Chronic pain has
      a significant impact on children's mood, daily functioning, and overall quality of life.
      Effective behavioral interventions have been developed to increase positive coping behaviors.
      However, most children do not have access to these interventions due to a variety of barriers
      such as distance from pediatric pain treatment centers. We have developed an online
      behavioral intervention called Web-based Management of Adolescent Pain (Web-MAP), and our
      preliminary findings indicated that children in families that received this intervention
      experienced significant improvements in their pain level and daily functioning compared to
      children who did not receive the intervention (Palermo et al., 2009). The purpose of this
      study is to extend these findings by: 1) recruiting families from other medical centers, 2)
      determining whether the benefits of online behavioral intervention are maintained 6- and
      12-months after the intervention has been completed, 3) evaluating additional outcomes such
      as parent responses to pain and child sleep quality, anxiety, depression, and health service
      use, 4) comparing results from online behavioral intervention to online patient education.
    

Intervention name(s): Online Behavioral Intervention; Education: Online Patient Education
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Other
Intervention description(s): The online behavioral intervention is travel-themed and participants visit 8 destinations (1 per week) designed to take 30 min each to complete. The destinations serve as an online analog for the weekly sessions used when delivering behavioral interventions face-to-face. The 8 child destinations include: 1) education about chronic pain, 2) recognizing stress and negative emotions, 3) relaxation and distraction skills, 4) school, 5) cognitive skills, 6) sleep hygiene and lifestyle, 7) staying active, and 8) relapse prevention. The eight parent destinations include: 1) education about chronic pain, 2) recognizing stress and negative emotions, 3) operant strategies I, 4) operant strategies II, 5) modeling, 6) sleep hygiene and lifestyle, 7) communication, and 8) relapse prevention.; The purpose of the online patient education group is to control for time, attention, and computer usage. Children and parents will be provided with access to a modified version of the study website that will provide links to information from publicly available educational websites about pediatric chronic pain management. Children and parents will log onto the web program weekly at the same interval as the Online Behavioral Intervention group. Children and parents will be asked to view 3 links each week and then report a few details pertaining to the content of what they viewed.
Other intervention name(s): Internet Intervention; Online Attention Control
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Chronic Pain; Abdominal Pain; Headache; Adolescents; Internet Interventions; Behavioral Interventions