Clinical and cost-effectiveness of an online-delivered group-based pain management programme in improving pain-related disability for people with persistent pain—protocol for a non-inferiority randomised controlled trial (iSelf-help trial)

摘要

Persistent non-cancer pain affects one in five adults and is more common in Māori—the Indigenous population of New Zealand (NZ), adults over 65 years, and people living in areas of high deprivation. Despite the evidence supporting multidisciplinary pain management programmes (PMPs), access to PMPs is poor due to long waiting lists. Although online-delivered PMPs enhance access, none have been codesigned with patients or compared with group-based, in-person PMPs. This non-inferiority trial aims to evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a cocreated, culturally appropriate, online-delivered PMP (iSelf-help) compared with in-person PMP in reducing pain-related disability.