# name
VirtualPain. Preliminary findings from a group-based digital therapeutics intervention for fibromyalgia

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Introduction: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a disorder characterized by chronic pain, with significant medical, psychological, and socio-economic implications. Although there is limited evidence, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has shown to be effective in improving FM symptoms. An alternative to enhance CBT effectiveness is to incorporate digital therapeutics (DTx). Aim: We conducted a pilot study to investigate whether the addition of a DTx intervention (VirtualPain)to cognitive-behavioral group therapy (CBGT) can reduce pain perception and associated symptoms in patients with FM. Method: Ten patients with FM were initially recruited from a public hospital in Barcelona. The treatment consisted of 6 weeks of VirtualPain group sessions and 16 weeks of CBGT. Measures of catastrophizing, self-efficacy, and coping were recorded before, during, and after the protocol. In the DTx sessions, pain intensity was recorded before and after each session. Results: The program (DTx and CBGT) showed asignificant improvement in pain-related self-efficacy and relaxation measures. Improvement in pain perception was observed only after the DTx intervention. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary results regarding the addedvalue ofDTx(VirtualPain) as part of a CBGTfor FM. The use of the program has facilitated a significant reduction in pain perception in each of the VirtualPain sessions, which provides further evidence of how this technology can be beneficial for improving FM treatments.

# metadata.dc.rights[].value
cc by (c) Vilalta-Abella, Ferran et al., 2024

# metadata.dc.source[].value
Articles publicats en revistes (Psicologia Clínica i Psicobiologia)

# metadata.dc.title[].value
VirtualPain. Preliminary findings from a group-based digital therapeutics intervention for fibromyalgia