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Tag: pain management
01/30/2023

Feasibility and acceptability of using smartphone-based EMA to assess patterns of prescription opioid and medical cannabis use among individuals with chronic pain

Anderson Goodell EM, Nordeck C, Finan PH, Vandrey R, Dunn KE, & Thrul J. (2021). Feasibility and acceptability of using smartphone-based EMA to assess patterns of prescription opioid and medical cannabis use among individuals with chronic pain. Internet Interventions: the Application of Information Technology in Mental and Behavioural Health, 26, 100460–100460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2021.100460

This paper described the feasibility and acceptability of a smartphone-based Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) data collection tool among people who use multiple substances and suffer from chronic pain. Forty-six participants were recruited through targeted Facebook and Instagram advertisements and completed screening via the link in the ads. Eligible participants had an opioid medication prescription, current opioid use, a pain disorder, and a referral for medical cannabis. Participants completed prompted EMA surveys on a mobile app for 30 days. Surveys included questions about opioid medication use, medical cannabis use, and pain symptoms. Participants were prompted to respond to four randomly timed surveys (assessing the past hour) and one daily diary per day. A subsample of 10 participants completed qualitative interviews. On average, participants responded to 70% of past-hour surveys and 92% of daily diaries. During qualitative interviews, participants reported an overall positive experience, but identified some issues related to smartphone notifications, redundant questions, or being prompted to complete assessments when they do not feel well. Findings demonstrate the feasibility and general acceptability of using this methodology for examining patterns of medical cannabis and prescription opioid medication use among individuals with chronic pain. Engagement with the digital tool over the 30-day duration was comparable to previous work. This study has implications for informing larger-scale epidemiology studies, interventions, and assessments on a wider geographic scale.

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09/19/2022

Why VR Could Be the New Dawn of Pain, Anxiety Management

Article Excerpt: Experts think virtual reality (VR) can help address the country’s rising levels of pain and anxiety. By flooding the brain with positive signals, VR experiences can act as a drug-free alternative to pain and mental health management — and hospitals across the nation are deploying the technology.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/ejsb9p6k

Article Source: MedCityNews

Posted in: Emerging Technologies // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ;
08/29/2022

Fighting the Opioid Crisis Through Sound: How Old Technology Could Be a New Solution

Article Excerpt: In less than three years, opioid overdose deaths are up 218 percent, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. Now, a small company in Kennesaw is hoping to lead the way in the battle against the opioid crisis and it starts on the operating table. SoftWave Technologies just secured the patent to use sound to keep people safe from opioid addiction. This isn’t a new therapy. Doctors have been using sound waves — or shock waves — to break up kidney stones since the 1980s. But, the idea to use the sound to help people cope with pain instead of opioids is brand new.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/37w6fhsc

Article Source: 11Alive

Posted in: Emerging Technologies // Tagged: ; ; ; ;
08/12/2022

AI Could Help Patients with Chronic Pain Avoid Opioids

Article Excerpt: Cognitive behavioral therapy is an effective alternative to opioid painkillers for managing chronic pain. But getting patients to complete those programs is challenging, especially because psychotherapy often requires multiple sessions and mental health specialists are scarce. A new study suggests that pain CBT supported by artificial intelligence renders the same results as guideline-recommended programs delivered by therapists, while requiring substantially less clinician time, making this therapy more accessible.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/bfen88ad

Article Source: University of Michigan News

Posted in: Emerging Technologies // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ;
05/23/2022

Wysa Receives FDA Breakthrough Designation for CBT Tool

Article Excerpt: Wysa, an artificial intelligence (AI) based digital companion for behavioural health, has been granted Breakthrough Device Designation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its AI-based digital mental health conversational agent for patients 18 years and older with a diagnosis of chronic musculoskeletal pain (defined as pain lasting longer than three months) and depression and anxiety. The device delivers cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) via a smartphone-based conversational agent to reduce the symptoms of depression and anxiety, reduce pain interference, and improve physical function.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/2kz3nvsk

Article Source: Med-Tech Innovation News

Posted in: Emerging Technologies // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
05/22/2022

Can Virtual Reality Help Ease Chronic Pain?

Article Excerpt: Chronic pain is one of the leading causes of long-term disability in the world. By some measures, 50 million Americans live with chronic pain, in part because the power of medicine to relieve it remains inadequate. Helen Ouyang, a physician and contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, explores the potentially groundbreaking use of virtual reality in the alleviation of acute pain, as well as anxiety and depression, and meets the doctors and entrepreneurs who believe this “nonpharmacological therapy” is a good alternative to prescription drugs. Ouyang explains virtual reality’s rise as an unlikely tool for solving the “intractable problem” of pain, but she also highlights those set to benefit financially from the treatment: The virtual reality sector in health care alone is, according to some estimates, already valued at billions of dollars, and is expected to grow by multiples of that in the next few years.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/52wfx2s2

Article Source: The New York Times Magazine

Posted in: Emerging Technologies // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
04/26/2022

Can Virtual Reality Help Ease Chronic Pain?

Article Excerpt: Chronic pain is generally defined as pain that has lasted three months or longer. It is one of the leading causes of long-term disability in the world. By some measures, 50 million Americans live with chronic pain, in part because the power of medicine to relieve pain remains woefully inadequate. As Daniel Clauw, who runs the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center at the University of Michigan, put it in a 2019 lecture, there isn’t “any drug in any chronic-pain state that works in better than one out of three people.” He went on to say that nonpharmacological therapy should instead be “front and center in managing chronic pain — rather than opioids, or for that matter, any of our drugs.”Virtual reality is emerging as an unlikely tool for solving this intractable problem. The V.R. segment in health care alone, which according to some estimates is already valued at billions of dollars, is expected to grow by multiples of that in the next few years, with researchers seeing potential for it to help with everything from anxiety and depression to rehabilitation after strokes to surgeons strategizing where they will cut and stitch. In November, the Food and Drug Administration gave authorization for the first V.R. product to be marketed for the treatment of chronic pain.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/3wkx6p8z

Article Source: The New York Times Magazine

Posted in: Emerging Technologies // Tagged: ; ; ; ; ;
01/17/2022

Clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of videoconference-based integrated cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain: Randomized controlled trial

Taguchi K, Numata N, Takanashi R, Takemura R, Yoshida T, Kutsuzawa K, Yoshimura K, Nozaki-Taguchi N, Ohtori S, Shimizu E. (2021). Clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of videoconference-based integrated cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain: Randomized controlled trial. J Med Internet Res 2021;23(11):e30690. https://www.jmir.org/2021/11/e30690. DOI: 10.2196/30690

Researchers conducted a study to test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a 16-session cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program delivered through video calls for the management of chronic pain. 30 participants with chronic pain were randomly assigned to the CBT program or treatment as usual (continued outpatient consultations). The CBT program included 16 weekly videoconference sessions with a therapist and covered sessions on psychoeducation on pain, relaxation exercises, cognitive reconstruction, tactile attention-shift training, memory work, behavioral image training, and video feedback. Participants completed assessments at baseline, mid-intervention, and post-intervention to measure change in pain intensity, pain severity, pain interference, mental health, quality of life and cost utility. There was no significant difference in changes in pain intensity between the two groups. However, the treatment group reported significant improvement in pain interference and quality of life. Additionally, it was found that the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for a year was estimated at 2.9 million yen (or 25,000 USD) per quality-adjusted life year gained. Findings indicate that a video-conference CBT treatment protocol can be a beneficial supplement to medical treatment for chronic pain. There was some support for the cost-efficiency of this telehealth intervention, but this result needs to be verified with a larger sample.

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