App-Based Pain Management and Opioid Education Program for Patients in Clinic Waiting Rooms

Best approaches to delivering patient education related to pain management and opioid safety are understudied.

This study assessed the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary patient-reported impact of an app-based patient pain education program.

Pilot study with data collection occurring on 43 weekdays between August 2019-February 2020.

Waiting rooms at the pain clinic and a primary care medical home within two military treatment facilities.

Military health system beneficiaries seeking general care at the primary care medical home or pain-specific care at the pain clinic.

The Joint Pain Education and Project curriculum includes patient-focused videos describing the biopsychosocial aspects of pain and pain management, medication take-back and safe disposal, and multidimensional pain assessments. The app-based videos were available on tablets in the waiting rooms for patients to view and complete surveys on after.

Overall, 152 patients viewed the videos and completed surveys. Most viewers were interested in receiving other tablet-based health education while in the waiting room (62%). Most viewers found videos to be moderately or very helpful (73%) and were satisfied or very satisfied with the information provided (85%). Participants at the primary care medical home were more likely to find videos helpful compared to participants at the pain clinic (OR = 2.11; 95% CI: 1.07, 4.20; p = .03).

Implementing app-based pain management education is feasible across clinic settings and is well received by patients. Clinics should consider providing pain education across care setting, rather than just pain specialty clinics, to help foster discussions between clinicians and patients regarding pain management and opioid safety.