Patients' Perspectives of Engaging in a Brief Psychological Intervention for Persistent Pain in Primary Care

Though there are evidence-based psychological interventions for persistent pain management, engagement and adherence in interventions are often low. Offering a brief intervention may increase engagement; however, the patients' perspectives of helpful components to include in such an intervention are unclear. This knowledge would be useful to optimize the delivery of a brief intervention. The purpose of this study was to learn patient perspectives of a brief psychological intervention for persistent pain management. Participants (N = 23) who completed a five-session psychological intervention in a diverse, large Midwestern primary care clinic engaged in an exit interview after conclusion of the program. A semistructured interview guide was utilized to query helpful components as well as suggestions for improvement. All participants found components in the intervention to be helpful, especially psychoeducation about the pain experience, diaphragmatic breathing, and a final review of strategies learned. Each component was rated as helpful by the majority of participants (ranging from 65.2% to 100%). The most common suggestions for improvement were to increase the number of handouts provided (43.5%) and to include an option for posttreatment booster sessions (35.8%). A brief psychological intervention for persistent pain management in primary care included components identified as helpful. This intervention could be revised based on participant feedback to further engage participants. Future research should test this intervention in a fully powered randomized trial after optimization based on the feedback provided.