Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Author Spotlight: Quantifying Pain Experience – An Illustrative Approach Using the Pain Body Diagram
Published on: July 7, 2023
Do pain management websites foster self-management support for people with persistent pain? A scoping review
Hemakumar Devan1, Meredith A Perry1, Angelique van Hattem2
1Centre for Health, Activity, and Rehabilitation Research (CHARR), School of Physiotherapy, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand.
Objectives:
To evaluate if the contents of pain management websites include the current best practice self-management support strategies for people with persistent pain, are cultural tailored and to determine the website quality.
Methods:
Websites were searched from three major search engines (Google, Bing, and Yahoo). Websites providing information on self-management strategies and websites that were freely available to the public were included. The website contents were evaluated using a 14-item self-management support (SMS-14) checklist. Website quality was assessed using the Health On the Net code (HONcode) certification.
Results:
Of the twenty-seven websites evaluated, the websites scored a median of nine items (range 1-13) from the SMS-14 checklist. The websites LivePlanBe, ACI Pain Management Network and MyJointPain top-scored (13/14) from the SMS-14 checklist. One website (ACI Pain Management Network) provided culturally tailored information and HONcode certification was present in six websites.
Conclusions:
The review identified 27 contemporary pain management websites that could be used for self-management skills training.
Practice Implications:
Clinicians could refer people with persistent pain to top ranked websites - LivePlanBe, ACI Pain Management Network, and MyJointPain for enabling self-management skills, with the caveats that most websites lacked cultural tailoring, and have limited or no evidence of clinical efficacy.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Analgesia and Pain Management
Pain
Tonsillitis II: Management
Impression Management Techniques I: Managing Appearances
Primary Motives: Sleep, Sex, and Pain Avoidance
Sleep is a fundamental physiological drive that fosters a state of restfulness crucial for several bodily functions. It facilitates body restoration, the process by which the body repairs, rejuvenates, and maintains itself during sleep, including memory...
Management of Insomnia

