OldPain2Go® a novel intervention for people with chronic low back pain: a feasibility study

Objectives: This feasibility study aimed to inform the development of a protocol for a single-blind randomised controlled trial (RCT) investigating the efficacy of OldPain2Go® for the treatment of chronic low back pain (CLBP). Design: Single arm feasibility study. Setting: One private physiotherapy practice. Participants: Twenty two individuals with CLBP were recruited and 15 completed the study providing full data sets (11 female, 4 male, mean age 49.3, range 18-71 years). Intervention OldPain2Go®, a novel talking therapy for pain. Participants received up to two individual treatment sessions with one therapist. Main Outcome Measures: Pain (0-10 pain Numerical Rating Scale) and function (Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire, 0-24, higher score indicates poorer levels of function), measured before and after all sessions and at 3-week follow-up. Results: The study recruited to target, only one participant withdrew from the study (unrelated to the study) and there were no adverse events/reactions attributed to the intervention. Of 15 participants, five received one treatment session and 10 received two sessions. Improvements in pain and function were seen in all those who completed the study with average improvements above the pre-set minimal clinically important change. Conclusions: Important methodological information was obtained, which will inform a future large-scale RCT of this intervention. As this was a feasibility study no claims about efficacy can be made. Future research to investigate the efficacy of this intervention is warranted. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials. gov Identifier: NCT03804567

Contribution of paper

• OldPain2Go® is a new treatment for chronic pain which is growing in popularity but there is no scientific literature on its safety or efficacy.

•A large scale RCT of the efficacy and effectiveness of OldPain2Go® as an intervention for people with CLBP is warranted