If you personalize it, will they use it?: Self-reported and observed use of a tailored, internet-based pain self-management program

Abstract

Little is known about how individuals with chronic pain use tailored internet-based interventions. This study is the first to compare self-reported skill module use to observed module access and to examine each of these in relationship to tailored recommendations to access specific content. Participants (N = 58) enrolled in a 10-week trial of the Pain EASE program, a tailored internet-based intervention that includes 10 pain self-management skill modules. Participants completed a “Self-Assessment,” which was used to provide a “Personalized Plan” that encouraged accessing specific modules. Participants self-reported module use during weekly data collection telephone calls. Program log data were extracted to capture “observed” module use during the trial period. Findings indicated significantly greater self-reported use of the Pain EASE modules compared to observed access with log data. Further, log data revealed that participants accessed less than half of the modules recommended to them via tailoring.