Comparing Pain Outcomes and Treatment Adherence Between In-Person and Virtual Interdisciplinary Pain Rehabilitation Programs at the San Francisco VA Health Care System

Abstract

Objective: This study compared clinical pain outcomes between patients in a pain treatment program that was conducted in-person, compared with a virtual program.

Methods: In-person (N=127) and virtual (N=101) pain treatment programs were compared based on patient-reported, practitioner-collected, and medical record data. The patients were measured at baseline and post-treatment (week 12 for In-Person and week 8 for Virtual patients). We employed the last observation carried forward (LOCF) to handle missing data.

Results: Both the In-Person and Virtual groups were similar in regard to all baseline outcomes, except the In-person group having significantly more co-morbidities at baseline, with particularly more cases of mental, behavioral, or neurodevelopmental diseases. Both groups demonstrated significant improvements in the pain-related measurements of pain interference and pain catastrophizing thoughts, but neither group displayed a change in average pain across treatment. Further, both groups improved significantly on emotional well-being scores, but not on physical functioning scores. No significant differences existed between groups on outcomes, except for pain catastrophizing, which was higher in the Virtual group at both time points. The Virtual group had lower rates of dropouts compared with In-Person, while the In-Person group had a larger proportion reach a clinically meaningful change in pain-related outcomes, defined as a >30% improvement.

Discussion: While some changes were unique to the In-Person program, overall, patients in the Virtual program achieved similar treatment outcomes, suggesting that it can successfully treat Veterans seeking pain management, with less need for in-person facilities for both patients and clinicians.