JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Patients with chronic pain often suffer from coexisting, long-term and debilitating mental health comorbidities such as depression and anxiety. AI-CBT interventions could offer cost-effective, accessible, and potentially effective resources to tackle this problem. However, there is not enough research conducted about the efficacy of AI-CBT interventions for chronic pain.

Objective:

This pilot study aims to examine the efficacy and usage of an AI-CBT intervention for chronic pain (Wysa for Chronic Pain app), using a conversational agent (with no human intervention). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first such study for chronic pain using a fully-automated, free-text-based conversational agent.

Methods:

Participants with self-reported chronic pain (N = 500) will be recruited online on a rolling basis from February 2022 through posts on internet communities like Facebook, Reddit and Instagram. Informed consent is taken from the participants within the app and the Wysa intervention is delivered remotely for 8 weeks. Outcome measures including NPRS, PROMIS PI, GAD-7, and PHQ-9 questionnaires will be administered to test the effectiveness of the intervention on reducing levels of pain interference, depression, and anxiety. The therapeutic alliance created with the conversational agent will be assessed through the WAI-SR. Retention and usage statistics will be observed for adherence and engagement.

Results:

The study will open for recruitment in February 2022 and data collection is expected to be completed by June 2022. The results for the primary outcomes are expected to be published by late-2022.

Conclusions:

AI-driven mental health chatbots could be effective in helping patients with chronic pain learn to self-manage their pain and deal with common comorbidities like depression and anxiety. The Wysa for Chronic Pain app is one such digital intervention that can potentially serve as a solution to the problems of affordability and scalability associated with interventions with a human therapist in loop. This study examines the efficacy of the app as a treatment solution for chronic pain. This project aims to inform future practices and digital mental health interventions for individuals with chronic pain.