TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluating the feasibility of delivering a pain management programme for adults living with sickle cell disease
AU - McLoughlin, Rebecca
AU - Love, Jenna
AU - Smith, Jared G.
AU - Scott, Whitney
AU - Noblet, Tim
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This report presents independent research partly funded by the South West London Academic, Health and Social Care System; Application for Small Grants Fund. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the UK National Health Service or the South West London Academic, Health and Social Care System. RM is an ICA Pre-Doctoral Clinical Academic Fellow supported by Health Education England and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR 301902). The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR, HEE, NHS or the UK Department of Health and Social Care. WS is partly funded through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Science Research Centre at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.
PY - 2024/6/1
Y1 - 2024/6/1
N2 - Background: Pain is the prominent feature of sickle cell disease (SCD) and negatively affects quality of life. Delivery of pain management programmes (PMPs) has been suggested in clinical guidelines for pain management in SCD; however, further evidence of the feasibility and effectiveness of PMPs in this population is needed. This study explored the feasibility of delivering a sickle cell pain management programme (SCPMP) for adults within a haemoglobinopathies service. Methods: A single arm, repeated-measures observational design was used to determine feasibility of delivering the SCPMP at one study site. Primary feasibility outcomes were recruitment, completion of treatment and outcome measures, satisfaction, credibility and acceptability to participants. Secondary feasibility outcomes were treatment outcomes and processes, frequency of vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) and healthcare utilisation. Results: Four of five feasibility criteria were met. Annual recruitment of eight participants to a SCPMP was not achieved. Twenty-nine people began a SCPMP during the study period. Twenty-five (86.2%) participants attended ≥5/8 sessions and 21(84%) programme completers provided all end of programme questionnaires. Mean scores of >7 on ten-point scales were seen across satisfaction and credibility questions. At least moderate (Hedges g >0.5) effect sizes were seen in pre-post SCPMP measures of pain interference, anxiety, depression, self-efficacy, pain-related worry and acceptance. A small (Hedges g 0.4) effect size was seen in HRQoL. Following SCPMP attendance, mean frequency of self-reported VOC and hospital admissions reduced. Conclusions: This study suggests that, given an adequate source of referrals, a SCPMP is feasible to deliver and appears acceptable and credible to participants. Exploration of influences on recruitment, such as barriers to group interventions, would be illuminating, prior to investigating feasibility of an adequately powered randomised-controlled trial.
AB - Background: Pain is the prominent feature of sickle cell disease (SCD) and negatively affects quality of life. Delivery of pain management programmes (PMPs) has been suggested in clinical guidelines for pain management in SCD; however, further evidence of the feasibility and effectiveness of PMPs in this population is needed. This study explored the feasibility of delivering a sickle cell pain management programme (SCPMP) for adults within a haemoglobinopathies service. Methods: A single arm, repeated-measures observational design was used to determine feasibility of delivering the SCPMP at one study site. Primary feasibility outcomes were recruitment, completion of treatment and outcome measures, satisfaction, credibility and acceptability to participants. Secondary feasibility outcomes were treatment outcomes and processes, frequency of vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) and healthcare utilisation. Results: Four of five feasibility criteria were met. Annual recruitment of eight participants to a SCPMP was not achieved. Twenty-nine people began a SCPMP during the study period. Twenty-five (86.2%) participants attended ≥5/8 sessions and 21(84%) programme completers provided all end of programme questionnaires. Mean scores of >7 on ten-point scales were seen across satisfaction and credibility questions. At least moderate (Hedges g >0.5) effect sizes were seen in pre-post SCPMP measures of pain interference, anxiety, depression, self-efficacy, pain-related worry and acceptance. A small (Hedges g 0.4) effect size was seen in HRQoL. Following SCPMP attendance, mean frequency of self-reported VOC and hospital admissions reduced. Conclusions: This study suggests that, given an adequate source of referrals, a SCPMP is feasible to deliver and appears acceptable and credible to participants. Exploration of influences on recruitment, such as barriers to group interventions, would be illuminating, prior to investigating feasibility of an adequately powered randomised-controlled trial.
KW - chronic pain
KW - pain management programme
KW - persistent pain
KW - sickle cell
KW - sickle cell disease
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85171840168&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/20494637231202744
DO - 10.1177/20494637231202744
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85171840168
SN - 2049-4637
VL - 18
SP - 257
EP - 273
JO - British Journal of Pain
JF - British Journal of Pain
IS - 3
ER -