JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Pain is a common public health concern, and the pain situation among general population is serious in mainland China reported in the previous study. Working adults are easily to suffer from pain because of long sitting time, lack of time and exercise etc. Lack of pain related knowledge is also a significant factor. Educational and therapeutic programs delivered online were used more in the western countries and accessible program in China is limited, especially for pain management. Therefore, we carried out an online pain education program for working adults to self-manage pain. The program was delivered through WeChat which is a popular and secure social media with a large population base in China.

Objective:

(1) To provide pain related knowledge and self-relieve strategies; (2) To help participants reduce pain and improve pain related emotional well-being; (3) To explore participants’ learning performance and the acceptability to the online pain education program.

Methods:

It was a randomized controlled trail. Chinese adults between 16 and 60 with full-time employment, have pain in past 6 months and without any mental illnesses were recruited using snowball sampling through internet and were randomly allocated into experimental group and control group with 1:1 ratio after the baseline assessment. The education program lasted for 4 weeks including basic knowledge of pain, pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments and related resources was provided only for the experimental group. Outcome of pain, depression, anxiety, stress and pain self-efficacy were measured at baseline (T0), post-treatment (T1) and one-month follow-up (T2). Participants’ acceptability and satisfaction were explored after completing the education.

Results:

Totally 95 eligible participants joined in the program with 47 in the experimental group and 48 in control group. Neck/shoulder, head and back were most commonly reported pain sites with high pain score. Pain intensity and interference of the experimental group were significantly reduced after the education. Depression, anxiety, stress were clinically improved. Pain self-efficacy was also improved after the education. The difference in depression, anxiety, stress and pain self-efficacy within group or between groups were not statistically significant, yet, the clinical improvements had been demonstrated. Pain intensity and depression was shown significantly correlated with the dosage of intervention. After completing the education, more than half of the participants showed acceptance and satisfaction to the program and they were willing to recommend to others.

Conclusions:

To conclude, our findings highlight the significant potential of this online education programs in the treatment of pain. Further promotion to the public can be made to help more pain suffers. Clinical Trial: Clinical Trials, NCT03952910. Retrospectively registered 15 May 2019.