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Preferences of chronic pain patients with regard to an internet treatment

Brinkman, E. (2007) Preferences of chronic pain patients with regard to an internet treatment.

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Abstract:The purpose of this study was to explore which type of treatment chronic pain patients prefer, the traditional or an Internet treatment, and which factors contribute to their preference. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 patients with chronic pain from a pain rehabilitation centre in the Netherlands. Thirteen participants were selected from the patient waiting list and twelve participants were recruited by physiotherapists. This group existed of patients who received exercise therapy for their pain complaints at the time or had just finished the treatment. In the interviews the participants were asked about advantages and disadvantages of the traditional face-to-face treatment and different types of Internet treatments. The method of data analysis was qualitative content analysis. Overall, participants considered an Internet treatment very helpful as a complement to the traditional treatment or as follow-up, but would not choose it as an autonomous treatment. The motives that were mentioned by participants fitted the decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour and were mainly related to the perceived usefulness. Especially personal attention and feedback were found to be important to chronic pain patients. This highlights the need for physiotherapists to be aware of the impact of the therapy setting and personal attention on individual patients and the need to ensure appropriate selection of treatment type. It should be noted that the preferences of the participants in this study were based on hypothetical scenarios instead of real experiences with Internet treatments. As a consequence, familiarity might have influenced the preferences of these participants.More research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of Internet treatments and for whom Internet treatments will be most appropriate. The decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour is recommended as a framework in future research on patients’ preferences with regard to Internet treatments.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:77 psychology
Programme:Psychology MSc (66604)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/59430
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