Highlights
- •Online acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) significantly reduced fibromyalgia (FM) impact.
- •Reductions in FM impact were mediated by improvements in pain acceptance.
- •Online ACT appears to be feasible and efficacious for FM.
- •Online delivery platforms may improve access to ACT for FM.
Abstract
In this study, 67 participants (95% female) with fibromyalgia (FM) were randomly assigned
to an online acceptance and commitment therapy (online ACT) and treatment as usual
(TAU; ACT + TAU) protocol or a TAU control condition. Online ACT + TAU participants
were asked to complete 7 modules over an 8-week period. Assessments were completed
at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 3-month follow-up periods and included measures
of FM impact (primary outcome), depression, pain, sleep, 6-minute walk, sit to stand,
pain acceptance (primary process variable), mindfulness, cognitive fusion, valued
living, kinesiophobia, and pain catastrophizing. The results indicated that online
ACT + TAU participants significantly improved in FM impact, relative to TAU (P < .001), with large between condition effect sizes at post-treatment (1.26) and follow-up
(1.59). Increases in pain acceptance significantly mediated these improvements (P = .005). Significant improvements in favor of online ACT + TAU were also found on
measures of depression (P = .02), pain (P = .01), and kinesiophobia (P = .001). Although preliminary, this study highlights the potential for online ACT
to be an efficacious, accessible, and cost-effective treatment for people with FM
and other chronic pain conditions.
Perspective
Online ACT reduced FM impact relative to a TAU control condition in this randomized
controlled trial. Reductions in FM impact were mediated by improvements in pain acceptance.
Online ACT appears to be a promising intervention for FM.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 23, 2018
Accepted:
February 13,
2018
Received in revised form:
December 3,
2017
Received:
July 29,
2017
Footnotes
This study is on the basis of the Doctoral Dissertation of H.D.S. and was supported by a financial grant from the Health Sciences Centre Foundation, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 by the American Pain Society
