Use of behavioural activation to manage pain: a scoping review protocol

Abstract

IntroductionChronic pain is a distressing condition and often poorly treated and managed. Psychological therapies are considered first-line intervention for people with chronic pain. Common psychological therapies require extensive clinician training and specialist qualifications. One approach that does not need lengthy training nor specialist qualification, but has empirical support in other health domains, is behavioural activation (BA). BA seeks to increase engagement in behaviours that are valued by the person and progress through behaviours that can increase mood and develop skills that build satisfying routines. BA can help people to manage their condition through scheduling behaviours, promoting routine and mastery over their condition. The extent to which BA has been used to support people living with chronic pain is not clear.Methods and analysisThis scoping review aims to identify published studies describing the application of BA to support people living with chronic pain. To map the evidence regarding BA and chronic pain, including the study type and the associated evidence, a scoping review was adopted. The search will be conducted in bibliographic databases, clinical trial registries and grey literature. No date limits will be applied to the search strategy. Screening of titles and abstracts, and full-text screening, will be independently undertaken by two investigators using Covidence software. Any disagreement between investigators will be resolved by a third investigator. Data from included publications will be extracted using a customised data extraction tool.Ethics and disseminationThe scoping review is an analysis of existing data and therefore ethics approval is not required. The findings of this scoping review will further our understanding of how BA has been used to support people living with chronic pain and inform future training and education programmes in this area.

Use of behavioural activation to manage pain: a systematic scoping review

“…Step 1: As recommended by Arksey and O’Malley, 18 we searched one relevant online database (MEDLINE) to inform the search strategy, which is detailed in the protocol. 20 …”

“…A person with a lived experience of chronic pain (TC) was involved in developing/preparing the protocol 20 and manuscript.…”

“…The methodological approach proposed by Arksey and O’Malley18 and Peters et al 19 was used. The protocol was published in the BMJ Open 20…”

Effect of behavioural activation for individuals with post-stroke depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Training in BA typically takes about five days 9 , and can be delivered by non-specialist mental health professionals 10 . Typically, BA is delivered face to face over 6-10 ten sessions [9][10][11][12] BA has been shown to be effective in treating people with depression and may be as effective as CBT. Richards et al 10 , reported an equivalence trial that compared CBT with a similar dose of BA in 221 people with moderate to severe depression.…”

Gestão da dor na pessoa em situação crítica vítima de trauma torácico:uma revisão integrativa da literatura / Pain management in critically ill thoracic trauma patients: an integrative literature review

“…Para além de representar um fenómeno stressante com impacto negativo no outcome da pessoa, a sua gestão deficiente por parte dos enfermeiros pode exacerbar diversos efeitos adversos, dos quais se destaca a dor crónica (Bridges, 2017;Martorella, 2019;Reardon et al, 2015). A dor crónica assume-se atualmente como um problema de saúde pública, consequência do aumento exponencial da sua prevalência, requerendo por isso intervenções eficazes na sua prevenção e controlo (Walsh et al, 2021). De realçar que cerca de 50 a 60% das pessoas vítimas de um trauma grave relatam que sofrem de dor crónica após um ano do incidente crítico (George & Johns, 2020).…”