Frequently Asked Questions
Treatments for chronic pain can be costly and time-consuming. We aimed to create a fully self-directed online intervention that is free, easy to use, can be received at home, and is brief to better accommodate peoples’ time and budget. The online treatment is also tailored to people who are having difficulty taking pain medication as prescribed, or who have opioid use disorder; it includes content and resources to help with pain and taking medications safely.
Your information will be combined with hundreds of other people from around the U.S. We will create an aggregated report on the participant experience.
Individual information is not reported or shared outside the study team. Participants are assigned identification numbers in the dataset and all data are coded numerically without names.
That’s fine. You can use a pseudonym if you wish. Just remember your pseudonym because the study staff will call you 3 times throughout the 3 month study and will ask for you using the name you provide to us.
No. We will have no contact with any medical providers.
We need your email address to send you the study surveys. The study involves completing 7 electronic surveys over the course of 3 months. We will also send you reminders by email if you forget to complete your surveys. We also use your email address to pay you for your participation. You will receive a gift card code immediately after you finish each survey. The gift card comes to you over email.
Study staff call all participants after the screening survey to make sure the medication is right. Some people are very sure about their medications and doses. However, many people do not know whether the medications they are taking are opioids or not. Others are unsure about their doses and how to read the medication label to complete the surveys. The phone calls help us ensure we get the right medication from every person. The calls are particularly important because we are not checking medical records or state databases. The calls help us ensure data integrity.
No. We do not access any medical records in this study. The only information we collect is the information you give us in the surveys and over the phone.
Yes. While this is not the focus of the study, we will ask you questions about substance use, including alcohol, cannabis (medical and recreational), as well as illicit drug use. We ask these questions so we can separate out people who use recreational substances from those who do not and report the results for these two groups separately. You may refuse to answer any questions you do not wish to answer.
Yes. Amazon gift card codes are emailed to you immediately after you complete each survey.
You may drop out of the study at any time. Your participation is voluntary.
While we cannot guarantee any benefits from participating in the study, the study may help you learn new skills to better cope with your chronic pain. Your participation will also help us evaluate whether this online chronic pain treatment is useful in helping patients better manage their chronic pain symptoms. While not considered a benefit, we provide all participants with compensation for completing our 7 surveys.
Funding for the MOBILE Relief study is provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
No. All participants enrolled in the study must currently take daily prescription opioids to join the MOBILE Relief study. If you do not qualify for this study, please let us know if you wish to be contacted for future pain treatment studies.
The results of this research study may be presented at scientific or medical meetings or published in scientific journals. Your identity and/or your personal health information will not be disclosed except as authorized by you or as required by law. However, there is always some risk that even de-identified information might be re-identified.
