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Completed

NCT Number: NCT04869085

The Use of a Digital Application for Reporting Pain and Pain Management in Home Hospice

Poor adherence to pain management and high pain intensity associated with serious, advanced illness is a major public health concern. This randomized clinical trial will test the efficacy of a newly enhanced digital pain and pain management application (e-PainSupport) for use in a home hospice setting. The e-PainSupport application delivers an education module about pain management to patients and caregivers, expedites pain reporting to nurses, and facilitates adherence to pain management. The overall goal of the e-PainSupport application is to improve pain management and reduce patient pain intensity in the home hospice setting.

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Key information

Conditions

Pain Agnosia Nervous System Diseases Neurobehavioral Manifestations Neurologic Manifestations Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Perceptual Disorders Signs and Symptoms

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Rush University Medical Center

Chicago, Illinois, 60612, United States

About this study

High pain intensity is a common symptom experienced by patients with serious advanced illness. However, pain management for patients in home hospice is less than optimal. Impediments to improving pain intensity are poor adherence to pain management regimen due in part to caregiver lack of knowledge (a barrier to reporting pain and using analgesics) and lack of self-efficacy (confidence) in administering analgesics. Digital applications may facilitate pain management by: (1) delivering education to increase knowledge and self-efficacy, (2) expediting pain reporting to nurses, and (3) improving adherence to pain management. e-PainSupport is a self-administered, digital pain management application developed in collaboration with hospice nurses and caregivers. It is directly linked to a patient's medical record and enhanced by an evidence-based educational module. It has three elements: (a) Educational Module, (b) Patient Pain Record, and (c) Pain Summary for Nurses. The purpose of this study is to test the effects of e-PainSupport on home hospice patient pain intensity when used by patients, caregivers and nurses. Participants (132 triads of patient, caregiver, and the hospice nurse assigned to the patient will be recruited from one large Midwest hospice agency. Patient and caregiver outcomes will be assessed at baseline and 2 weeks post baseline. Data will be analyzed with multi-level modeling. Post-intervention semi-structured interviews will be conducted with nurses who provided care to patients in the e-PainSupport condition. Qualitative content analysis will be used to identify themes related to perceived practice changes after using e-PainSupport. e-PainSupport has potential as a useful tool to advance home hospice care by enhancing the quality of caregiver pain management, facilitating nurse-patient communication, and improving management of patient pain intensity.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

(patient)

  • prior enrollment of their hospice nurse
  • receives analgesics for pain
  • speaks and reads English
  • age 18 or older
  • has a primary informal caregiver who is available for the 2 weeks of the study
  • expected survival of at least 2 weeks
  • can verbalize pain.

Inclusion criteria

(caregiver)

  • speaks and reads English
  • age 18 or older
  • cares for an enrolled patient
  • available for the 2 weeks of the study.

Inclusion criteria

(nurses participating in the RTC)

  • registered nurse (RN)
  • provides direct care to patients
  • has not had a prior patient enrolled in the study

Treatment and study plan

e-PainSupport

Behavioral

Patients and caregivers assigned to the e-PainSupport condition will download the app on their own device, or they will be given a project tablet with wireless capability if they do not have their own device. All receive specific training for the intervention. They will also receive a hardcopy of the e-PainSupport manual and a trouble-shooting guide. Contact information will be provided in the app and on paper for technical problems. Caregivers complete Education Module, and patients may complete it. Caregiver or patient will fill out Pain Report daily. Pain Summary for Nurses is an automatically generated graphic summary of patients' Pain Reports over time. Nurses have access to this information during the time the patients and caregivers use e-PainSupport.

Primary outcomes

  1. Minimally Important Clinical Change in Worst Pain Intensity

    Time frame: Baseline to 2-weeks post baseline

    At least 20 percent change on the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Pain Intensity-Short Form 3a v1.0: 3 items: Worst pain and average pain in past 7 days scored from 1 = no pain, 2= mild, 3 = moderate, 4= severe, 5 = very severe pain. Higher scores indicates higher pain intensity.

  2. Minimally Important Clinical Change in Average Pain Intensity

    Time frame: Baseline to 2-weeks post baseline

    At Least 20 Percent Change on the PROMIS Average Pain Scale. Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Pain Intensity-Short Form 3a v1.0: Average pain in past 7 days, and current pain, scored from 1 = no pain, 2= mild, 3 = moderate, 4= severe, 5 = very severe pain, summed for a range of 3 to 15. Higher scores indicates higher pain intensity.

  3. Minimally Important Clinical Change in Current Pain Intensity

    Time frame: Baseline to 2-weeks post baseline

    At least 20 percent change on the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Pain Intensity-Short Form 3a v1.0: 3 items: current pain, scored from 1 = no pain, 2= mild, 3 = moderate, 4= severe, 5 = very severe pain. Higher scores indicates higher pain intensity.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in the Continuous Score of the Pain Intensity Scale

    Time frame: Baseline to 2-weeks post baseline

    Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Pain Intensity-Short Form 3a v1.0. 3items: worst pain and average pain in past 7 days, and current pain, scored from 1 = no pain, 2= mild, 3 = moderate, 4= severe, 5 = very severe pain, summed for a range of 3 to 15. Higher scores indicates higher pain intensity.

Other outcomes

  1. Caregiver Self-efficacy: Difference in Self-efficacy Scores From Baseline to 14 Days

    Time frame: Baseline to 2-weeks post baseline

    Chronic Pain Self-Efficacy Scale and the two weeks post baseline: Self-efficacy for pain management subscale measures confidence in managing pain, 5 items on 10-point Likert scale anchored on the ends by 10=very uncertain and 100=very certain. The score ranges from 50 to 500. Higher scores indicate higher perceived self efficacy.

  2. Adherence to Pain Management: Difference in Change Scores From Baseline to 14 Days

    Time frame: Baseline to 2-weeks post baseline

    Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-4 item version: Measures medication adherence, 4 items on a five-point Likert scale. Patients answer yes or no to questions (e.g., Do you sometimes forget to take your pain medication?).Each "yes" answer is scored as 1.The score ranges from 0 to 4. Lower score indicates better adherence.

  3. Family Caregiver Knowledge: Difference in Change Scores From Baseline to 14 Days

    Time frame: Baseline to 2-weeks post baseline

    Barriers Questionnaire II measures 8 knowledge barriers about reporting pain and using analgesics, with four subscales (physiological effects, 12 items; fatalism, 3 items; communication, 6 items; and harmful effects, 6 items (total 27 items) on a 6-point scale (0 = don't agree, 5 = agree very much), items averaged (range 0 to 5). The score ranges from 0-135. Higher scores indicate stronger barriers.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Rush University Medical Center

Other

Collaborators

  • National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)

Registry information

Acronym: ePainSupport

Important dates

Study start
2021
Primary completion
2023
Study completion
2024
First posted
May 3, 2021
Registry last updated
Mar 11, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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