JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Chronic pain is prevalent in our society, with conditions like fibromyalgia being notably widespread. The gold standard in aiding individuals dealing with chronic pain involves interdisciplinary approaches rooted from a biopsychosocial perspective. Regrettably, access to such care is difficult for most of the people in need. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have been used as a way of overcoming access barriers (among other advantages).

Objective:

Despite the potential benefits of ICT, there's a scarcity of research on how individuals with fibromyalgia utilize ICT for pain management, along with their perceptions of these technologies. With this study we aim to fill this gap by conducting a cross-sectional study to gather uses of ICT and views of a sample of individuals coping with fibromyalgia.

Methods:

265 individuals with fibromyalgia participated. A survey was created to assess the use of different ICT tools for pain management, satisfaction with used tools, and perceived advantages and disadvantages. Alongside this, data collection encompassed sociodemographic factors and pain-related variables, pain intensity, the impact of pain on daily life activities, and fear-avoidance beliefs.

Results:

Only 0.75% of respondents reported not having used any ICT tool for pain management. Among those who have used ICT tools, an average of 10.94 out of 14 different tools were used, with the most used options being instant messaging applications, websites dedicated to managing fibromyalgia, phone consultations with professionals, and online multimedia resources. Satisfaction rates were relatively modest (mean=2.09, in a scale from 0 to 5) being the ones with higher satisfaction: instant messaging applications, phone calls with health professionals, fibromyalgia management websites, and online multimedia resources. Participants appreciated the ability to receive treatment from home, access to specialized treatment, and using ICTs as a supplement to in-person interventions. However, they also highlighted drawbacks such as lack of close contact with health professionals, difficulty expressing emotions, and lack of knowledge or resources to use ICTs. The use of ICTs is found to also be influenced by age and educational background. Additionally, there was a negative correlation between satisfaction with ICT tools and levels of fear avoidance.

Conclusions:

People with fibromyalgia specially value ICTs that enable communication with healthcare professionals and provide access to online resources. Remote treatment was a significant advantage due to mobility issues. However, concerns about the ability to use ICTs due to lack of knowledge or resources were noted. Age-related digital divide and education level influenced ICT usage and satisfaction. Higher fear-avoidance levels correlated with lower satisfaction with ICTs, possibly due to general avoidance tendencies, including exposure to treatments. The findings highlight the need to improve ICTs tools and design strategies aimed at bolstering self-efficacy among users.