Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for the Management of Postsurgical Pain: Study Protocol of a Randomized Controlled Trial (SPINE-ACT Study) (original) (raw)
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Background: Chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) and associated long-term opioid use are major public health concerns. Aims: The Toronto General Hospital Transitional Pain Service (TPS) is a multidisciplinary, hospital-integrated program developed to prevent and manage CPSP and support opioid tapering. This clinical practice–based study reports on preliminary outcomes of the TPS psychology program, which provides acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to patients at risk for CPSP and persistent opioid use. Methods: Ninety-one patients received ACT, whereas 252 patients did not (no ACT group). Patient outcomes were compared for the two groups at first and last TPS visits. Pain, pain interference, sensitivity to pain traumatization, pain catastrophizing, anxiety, depression, and opioid use were analyzed using two-way (Group [ACT, no ACT] × Time [first, last visit]) analyses of variance (ANOVAs). Results: Patients referred to ACT were more likely to report a mental health condition preoperatively (P < 0.001), had higher opioid use (P < 0.001) at the first postsurgical visit, and reported higher sensitivity to pain traumatization (P < 0.05) and anxiety (P < 0.05) than the no ACT group at both time points. Both groups showed reductions in pain, pain interference, pain catastrophizing, anxiety, and opioid use by the last TPS visit (P < 0.05). The ACT group demonstrated greater reductions in opioid use and pain interference and showed reductions in depressed mood (P = 0.001) by the end of treatment compared to the no ACT group. Conclusion: Preliminary outcomes suggest that ACT was effective in reducing opioid use while pain interference and mood improved.
Current status of acceptance and commitment therapy for chronic pain: a narrative review
Journal of Pain Research
It is well known that chronic pain is prevalent, complex to manage, and associated with high costs, in health care and society in general. Thanks to advances in new forms of cognitive behavioral therapy (known as third-wave CBT), currently clinicians and researchers have an empirically validated psychological treatment with increasing research support for the treatment of chronic pain. This treatment is called acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). The main aim of this paper is to provide a narrative review that summarizes and integrates the current state of knowledge of ACT in the management of chronic pain as well as discuss current challenges and opportunities for progress. Based on the psychological flexibility model, ACT extends previous forms of CBT and integrates many CBT-related variables into six core therapeutic processes. ACT is a process-based therapy that fosters openness, awareness, and engagement through a wide range of methods, including exposurebased and experiential methods, metaphors, and values clarification. To our knowledge, there are three published systematic reviews and meta-analyses that support the effectiveness of ACT for chronic pain and many studies focused on specific processes derived from the psychological flexibility model. There is also promising support for the cost-effectiveness of ACT; however, the current evidence is still insufficient to establish firm conclusions about cost-effectiveness and the most efficient means of delivery. Additional well-designed economic evaluations are needed. Other research aims include delineating the neurobiological underpinnings of ACT, refining available outcome and process measures or develop new ones for ACT trials, and meeting the challenge of wide dissemination and implementation in real-world clinical practice.
Patient related outcome measures, 2018
Inadequately managed pain is a risk factor for chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP), a growing public health challenge. Multidisciplinary pain-management programs with psychological approaches, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and mindfulness-based psychotherapy, have shown efficacy as treatments for chronic pain, and show promise as timely interventions in the pre/perioperative periods for the management of PSP. We reviewed the literature to identify randomized controlled trials evaluating the efficacy of these psychotherapy approaches on pain-related surgical outcomes. We searched Medline, Medline-In-Process, Embase and Embase Classic, and PsycInfo to identify studies meeting our search criteria. After title and abstract review, selected articles were rated for risk of bias. Six papers based on five trials (four back surgery, one cardiac surgery) met our inclusion criteria. Four papers employed CBT and two CBT-physiotherapy variant...
The Journal of Pain, 2013
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a developing approach for chronic pain. The current study was designed to pilot test a brief, widely inclusive, local access format of ACT in a UK primary care setting. Seventy-three participants (68.5% women) were randomized to either ACT or treatment as usual (TAU). Many of the participants were aged 65 years or older (27.6%), were diagnosed with fibromyalgia (30.2%) and depression (40.3%), and had longstanding pain (median = 10 years). Standard clinical outcome measures included disability, depression, physical functioning, emotional functioning, and rated improvement. Process measures included pain-related and general psychological acceptance. The recruitment target was met within 6 months, and 72.9% of those allocated to ACT completed treatment. Immediately post treatment, relative to TAU, participants in ACT demonstrated lower depression and higher ratings of overall improvement. At a 3-month follow-up, again relative to TAU, those in ACT demonstrated lower disability, less depression, and significantly higher pain acceptance; d = .58, .59, and .64, respectively. Analyses based on intention-to-treat and on treatment ''completers,'' perhaps predictably, revealed more sobering and more encouraging results, respectively. A larger trial of ACT delivered in primary care, in the format employed here, appears feasible with some recommended adjustments in the methods used here (Trial registration: ISRCTN49827391). Perspective: This article presents a pilot randomized controlled trial of ACT for chronic pain in a primary care setting in the United Kingdom. Both positive clinical outcomes and ways to improve future trials are reported.
Journal of Pain Research, 2015
Chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP), an often unanticipated result of necessary and even life-saving procedures, develops in 5-10% of patients one-year after major surgery. Substantial advances have been made in identifying patients at elevated risk of developing CPSP based on perioperative pain, opioid use, and negative affect, including depression, anxiety, pain catastrophizing, and posttraumatic stress disorder-like symptoms. The Transitional Pain Service (TPS) at Toronto General Hospital (TGH) is the first to comprehensively address the problem of CPSP at three stages: 1) preoperatively, 2) postoperatively in hospital, and 3) postoperatively in an outpatient setting for up to 6 months after surgery. Patients at high risk for CPSP are identified early and offered coordinated and comprehensive care by the multidisciplinary team consisting of pain physicians, advanced practice nurses, psychologists, and physiotherapists. Access to expert intervention through the Transitional Pain Service bypasses typically long wait times for surgical patients to be referred and seen in chronic pain clinics. This affords the opportunity to impact patients' pain trajectories, preventing the transition from acute to chronic pain, and reducing suffering, disability, and health care costs. In this report, we describe the workings of the Transitional Pain Service at Toronto General Hospital, including the clinical algorithm used to identify patients, and clinical services offered to patients as they transition through the stages of surgical recovery. We describe the role of the psychological treatment, which draws on innovations in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy that allow for brief and effective behavioral interventions to be applied transdiagnostically and preventatively. Finally, we describe our vision for future growth.
Contemporary clinical trials, 2018
Most of the 100 million Americans with persistent pain are treated in primary care clinics, but evidence-based psychosocial approaches targeting pain-related disability are not usually provided in these settings. This manuscript describes the rationale and methods for a protocol to pilot test the feasibility and effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), an evidence-based psychological treatment for persistent pain, delivered by a Behavioral Health Consultant in primary care. Eligible patients are identified through electronic health record registries and invited to participate via secure messaging, letters and a follow-up phone call. Participants are also recruited with advertising and clinician referral. Patients agreeing to participate are consented and complete initial assessments, with a target of 60 participants. Randomization is stratified based on pain severity with participants assigned to either ACT or Enhanced Treatment as Usual (E-TAU). ACT participants re...
The Clinical journal of pain, 2015
To date, few studies have compared Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for longstanding pain with established treatments. Only one study has evaluated the cost-effectiveness of ACT. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of ACT and applied relaxation (AR) for adults with unspecific longstanding pain. Based on inclusion criteria 60 consecutive patients received 12 weekly group-sessions of ACT or AR. Data was collected pre-, mid- and post-treatment, as well as at 3- and 6-month follow-up. Growth curve modeling was used to analyze treatment effects on pain disability, pain intensity, health-related quality of life (physical domain), anxiety, depression and acceptance. Significant improvements were seen across conditions (pre-treatment to follow-up assessment) on all outcome measures. Pain disability decreased significantly in ACT relative to AR from pre- to post-assessment. A corresponding decrease in pain disability was seen in AR between ...