Kawi Jennifer, Yeh Chao Hsing, Lukkahatai Nada, Hardwicke Robin L, Murphy Thomas, Christo Paul J
University of Nevada, School of Nursing, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Cizik School of Nursing, Houston, TX, USA.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2022 Aug 29;2022:8079691. doi: 10.1155/2022/8079691. eCollection 2022.
Chronic pain remains highly prevalent. Current pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies have not adequately managed chronic pain which has contributed to disability and high healthcare costs. With existing challenges in providing adequate pain care and access, we tested vAPA, a virtually delivered, self-management intervention using Auricular Point Acupressure (APA) by mobile app and virtual consultations (telehealth). Our key purpose was to evaluate the feasibility of the vAPA in self-managing chronic pain in preparation for a future randomized controlled trial.
We conducted a descriptive, qualitative study evaluating our 4-week vAPA intervention among 18 participants. We used directed qualitative content analysis. . Participants perceived that vAPA was feasible (acceptable, useable, practical, and beneficial). In addition, the following themes were gathered: better control of pain, less use of pain medications, self-management and motivation in pain, and expectations for pain relief. Refinements were recommended for the app, content, and delivery to improve study interventions. Findings are relevant in moving forward to a future randomized controlled trial and for wider implementation in a pragmatic clinical trial.
慢性疼痛仍然非常普遍。目前的药物和非药物策略尚未充分管理慢性疼痛，这导致了残疾和高昂的医疗费用。鉴于在提供充分的疼痛护理和获取途径方面存在现有挑战，我们测试了虚拟耳穴按压辅助自我管理干预（vAPA），这是一种通过移动应用程序和虚拟咨询（远程医疗）使用耳穴按压（APA）的虚拟交付的自我管理干预措施。我们的主要目的是评估vAPA在自我管理慢性疼痛方面的可行性，为未来的随机对照试验做准备。
我们进行了一项描述性定性研究，评估了18名参与者为期4周的vAPA干预。我们使用了定向定性内容分析。参与者认为vAPA是可行的（可接受、可用、实用且有益）。此外，还收集了以下主题：更好地控制疼痛、减少止痛药的使用、疼痛方面的自我管理和动力以及对疼痛缓解的期望。建议对应用程序、内容和交付方式进行改进，以改善研究干预措施。研究结果对于推进未来的随机对照试验以及在务实的临床试验中更广泛地实施具有重要意义。
