Impact of COVID-19 on utilization of nonpharmacological and pharmacological treatments for chronic low back pain and clinical outcomes.

CONTEXT: The novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted the delivery of health care services throughout the United States, including those for patients with chronic pain. OBJECTIVES: To measure changes in patients' utilization of nonpharmacological and pharmacological treatments for chronic low back pain and related outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A pre-post study was conducted within the Pain Registry for Epidemiological, Clinical, and Interventional Studies and Innovation (PRECISION Pain Research Registry) using data in the 3 months before and 3-6 months after the declaration of a national emergency related to COVID-19. Participants 21-79 years old with chronic low back pain were included in the study and provided self reported data at relevant quarterly encounters. Use of exercise therapy, yoga, massage therapy, spinal manipulation, acupuncture, cognitive behavioral therapy, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, and opioids for low back pain was measured. The primary outcomes were low back pain intensity and back related functioning measured with a numerical rating scale and the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire, respectively. Secondary outcomes included health related quality of life scales measured with the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System, including scales for physical function, anxiety, depression, low energy/fatigue, sleep disturbance, participation in social roles and activities, and pain interference with activities. RESULTS: A total of 476 participants were included in this study. The mean age of participants at baseline was 54.0 years (standard deviation, ±13.2 years; range, 22-81 years). There were 349 (73.3%) female participants and 127 (26.7%) male participants in the study. Utilization of exercise therapy (odds ratio [OR], 0.37; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.23-0.57), massage therapy (OR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.25-0.83), and spinal manipulation (OR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.29-0.93) decreased during the pandemic. A reduction in NSAID use was also observed (OR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.45-0.99). Participants reported a significant, but not clinically relevant, improvement in low back pain intensity during the pandemic (mean improvement, 0.19; 95% CI, 0.03-0.34; Cohen's d, 0.11). However, White participants reported a significant improvement in low back pain intensity (mean improvement, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.10-0.46), whereas Black participants did not (mean improvement, -0.13; 95% CI, -0.46 to 0.19; p for interaction=0.03). Overall, there was a significant and clinically relevant improvement in pain interference with activities (mean improvement, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.20-2.02; Cohen's d, 0.20). The use of NSAIDs during the pandemic was associated with marginal increases in low back pain intensity. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, decreased utilization of treatments for chronic low back pain did not adversely impact pain and functioning outcomes during the first 6 months of the pandemic. However, Black participants experienced significantly worse pain outcomes than their White counterparts.

Efficacy of an online cognitive behavioral therapy program developed for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: the REduction of STress (REST) study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The acknowledgment of the mental health toll of the COVID-19 epidemic in healthcare workers has increased considerably as the disease evolved into a pandemic status. Indeed, high prevalence rates of depression, sleep disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been reported in Chinese healthcare workers during the epidemic peak. Symptoms of psychological distress are expected to be long-lasting and have a systemic impact on healthcare systems, warranting the need for evidence-based psychological treatments aiming at relieving immediate stress and preventing the onset of psychological disorders in this population. In the current COVID-19 context, internet-based interventions have the potential to circumvent the pitfalls of face-to-face formats and provide the flexibility required to facilitate accessibility to healthcare workers. Online cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in particular has proved to be effective in treating and preventing a number of stress-related disorders in populations other than healthcare workers. The aim of our randomized controlled trial study protocol is to evaluate the efficacy of the 'My Health too' CBT program-a program we have developed for healthcare workers facing the pandemic-on immediate perceived stress and on the emergence of psychiatric disorders at 3- and 6-month follow-up compared to an active control group (i.e., bibliotherapy). METHODS: Powered for superiority testing, this six-site open trial involves the random assignment of 120 healthcare workers with stress levels > 16 on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) to either the 7-session online CBT program or bibliotherapy. The primary outcome is the decrease of PSS-10 scores at 8 weeks. Secondary outcomes include depression, insomnia, and PTSD symptoms; self-reported resilience and rumination; and credibility and satisfaction. Assessments are scheduled at pretreatment, mid-treatment (at 4 weeks), end of active treatment (at 8 weeks), and at 3-month and 6-month follow-up. DISCUSSION: This is the first study assessing the efficacy and the acceptability of a brief online CBT program specifically developed for healthcare workers. Given the potential short- and long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers' mental health, but also on healthcare systems, our findings can significantly impact clinical practice and management of the ongoing, and probably long-lasting, health crisis. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04362358 , registered on April 24, 2020.