Online Acceptance-based Behavioural Treatment for Fibromyalgia

A recent study published by the Canadian Pain Society estimated the direct health care costs of chronic pain to be about 6 billion dollars. Over 1/3 of all Canadians reported that they either missed work or experienced reduced productivity due to chronic pain. Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS)is a condition that affects up to 10% of the Canadian population, many of whom are still in the prime of their lives. While pain and fatigue are prominent symptoms, FMS sufferers often experience sleep disturbance, gastrointestinal upset, chronic headache, memory and thinking problems, and depression. Standard treatments focus on medication and physical exercise but are not always successful. Acceptance-Based behavioural therapy (ABBT) is a relatively new approach that has been effective not only in treating mental health concerns such as anxiety and depression, but also other medical conditions such as diabetes and chronic pain. A novel ABBT for FMS was developed and pilot tested with a small group of participants. The results of this preliminary study were promising. Unfortunately, many people cannot adequately access available treatment due to long wait lists, prohibitive costs, or time/location constraints. Online treatments may offer improved access to care without reducing the effectiveness of treatment. Therefore, the ABBT for FMS used in the pilot study is being adapted to an online format and will be evaluated with a larger group of participants. A wait-list/control group will be employed to evaluate the effectiveness of the online treatment as compared with treatment-as-usual. If found effective, this treatment would offer patients easier access to care at a significantly reduced cost to the health care system.