Guided Internet-delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Chronic Pain Patients

Guided Internet-delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Chronic Pain Patients: a Randomized Controlled Trial

The aim of this study was to investigate if guided internet-delivered acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)would help chronic pain patients.

The present study investigates internet-delivered ACT for persons with chronic pain. The use of internet as a delivery format for interventions could be a way of overcome many barriers (financial obstacles, reluctance to seek treatment and paucity of clinicians trained in ACT) that hinder persons with chronic pain to seek or receive adequate help. Persons were randomized to either treatment for 7 weeks or to a control group who were invited to participate in a moderated online discussion forum. Follow up data was collected six months after the treatment.

Inclusion Criteria:

• that participants had undergone medical investigation (within one year)
• had regular access to the internet
• had functional impairment caused by chronic pain
• had internet access

Exclusion Criteria:

• ongoing medical investigations or treatment that could interfere with participation in the study, such as planned surgery and suffering from acute physical or psychological conditions
• not fluent in the Swedish language