Open AccessA Brief Peer Support Intervention for Veterans with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: A Pilot Study of Feasibility and Effectiveness
Author(s) -
Matthias Marianne S.,
McGuire Alan B.,
Kukla Marina,
Daggy Joanne,
Myers Laura J.,
Bair Matthew J.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
pain medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.893
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1526-4637
pISSN - 1526-2375
DOI - 10.1111/pme.12571
Subject(s) - medicine , physical therapy , intervention (counseling) , brief pain inventory , randomized controlled trial , chronic pain , musculoskeletal pain , statistical significance , pain catastrophizing , psychiatry
Objective The aim of this study was to pilot test a peer support intervention, involving peer delivery of pain self‐management strategies, for veterans with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Design Pretest/posttest with 4‐month intervention period. Methods Ten peer coaches were each assigned 2 patients (N = 20 patients). All had chronic musculoskeletal pain. Guided by a study manual, peer coach–patient pairs were instructed to talk biweekly for 4 months. Pain was the primary outcome and was assessed with the PEG , a three‐item version of the Brief Pain Inventory, and the PROMIS Pain Interference Questionnaire. Several secondary outcomes were also assessed. To assess change in outcomes, a linear mixed model with a random effect for peer coaches was applied. Results Nine peer coaches and 17 patients completed the study. All were male veterans. Patients' pain improved at 4 months compared with baseline but did not reach statistical significance ( PEG : P = 0.33, ICC [intra‐class correlation] = 0.28, C ohen's d = −0.25; PROMIS : P = 0.17, d = −0.35). Of secondary outcomes, self‐efficacy ( P = 0.16, ICC = 0.56, d = 0.60) and pain centrality ( P = 0.06, ICC = 0.32, d = −0.62) showed greatest improvement, with moderate effect sizes. Conclusions This study suggests that peers can effectively deliver pain self‐management strategies to other veterans with pain. Although this was a pilot study with a relatively short intervention period, patients improved on several outcomes.