Patients’ Experiences of Using an eHealth Pain Management Intervention Combined With Psychomotor Physiotherapy: Qualitative Study

BACKGROUND: Chronic pain is a major health challenge to those affected. Blended care with psychomotor physiotherapy (PMP) combined with eHealth self-management might be beneficial. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore how patients with chronic pain experience the combination of PMP and the use of EPIO, an eHealth self-management intervention for chronic pain. METHODS: Individual semistructured interviews were conducted with 5 adult patients with chronic pain (ie, participants) who used EPIO in combination with PMP over a period of 10 to 15 weeks. Interviews explored participants’ experiences using this treatment combination in relation to their pain and analyzed their experiences using systematic text condensation. RESULTS: Participants described having benefited from using EPIO in combination with PMP in terms of increased awareness of bodily signals and how pain was related to stress and activity. They also described changes in the relationship to themselves in terms of increased self-acceptance, self-assertion, and hope and their relationship to their pain in terms of seeing pain as less harmful and engaging in more active coping strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that a blended care approach combining eHealth self-management interventions such as EPIO with PMP may be of value to patients living with chronic pain. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03705104; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03705104