Randomized Controlled Trial of Online Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Fibromyalgia

In this study, 67 participants (95% female) with fibromyalgia (FM) were randomly assigned to an online acceptance and commitment therapy (online ACT) and treatment as usual (TAU; ACT + TAU) protocol or a TAU control condition. Online ACT + TAU participants were asked to complete 7 modules over an 8-week period. Assessments were completed at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 3-month follow-up periods and included measures of FM impact (primary outcome), depression, pain, sleep, 6-minute walk, sit to stand, pain acceptance (primary process variable), mindfulness, cognitive fusion, valued living, kinesiophobia, and pain catastrophizing. The results indicated that online ACT + TAU participants significantly improved in FM impact, relative to TAU (P<.001), with large between condition effect sizes at post-treatment (1.26) and follow-up (1.59). Increases in pain acceptance significantly mediated these improvements (P=.005). Significant improvements in favor of online ACT + TAU were also found on measures of depression (P=.02), pain (P=.01), and kinesiophobia (P=.001). Although preliminary, this study highlights the potential for online ACT to be an efficacious, accessible, and cost-effective treatment for people with FM and other chronic pain conditions. Perspective: Online ACT reduced FM impact relative to a TAU control condition in this randomized controlled trial. Reductions in FM impact were mediated by improvements in pain acceptance. Online ACT appears to be a promising intervention for FM. (C) 2018 by the American Pain Society