iCanCope with PainTM Norway : Cultural translation and feasibility testing of the Norwegian iCanCope with PainTM app aimed at reducing pain and improving health-related quality of life in a school-based population of adolescents with persistent pain

Abstract

Persistent pain has a high prevalence among adolescents. Pain has been shown to reduce all aspects of the adolescent’s health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Available pain-coping applications (apps) are rarely scientifically evaluated nor have health personnel in their development. Thus, there is a need to provide coping strategies in evidence- and theory-based app interventions aimed at reducing pain and increasing HRQOL among adolescents with persistent pain. The iCanCope with PainTM app is originally from Canada and based on theory, identified healthcare needs and current best practices for pain self-management. There was a need for ensuring the app was appropriate for a school-based population of Norwegian adolescents with persistent pain. Hence, Paper I described the translation and cultural adaptation of the app into the Norwegian context and evaluated the app’s usability. The findings from Paper I secured a fundamental platform for further feasibility testing on a larger scale. Given the limited research evidence regarding the underlying mechanisms between pain and HRQOL in adolescents with persistent pain, Paper II described the experience of pain, HRQOL and self-efficacy among this study sample; and explored the association between pain intensity and HRQOL testing for self-efficacy as a possible mediator. Finally, in Paper III we determined the feasibility and explored possible differences in outcomes between the intervention and control groups of an 8-week intervention using the Norwegian iCanCope with PainTM app. Two papers have been published in peer-reviewed journals and one paper submitted, which together have established a coherence in research toward the overall objective of this thesis.