App-based mindfulness training to improve sleep in people with chronic back pain: A single-arm feasibility study

Background: App-based mindfulness training is a potentially effective intervention to improve sleep for people living with back pain with a considerable decrease in cost and increased accessibility when compared to other interventions. The aim of this study was to determine if app-based mindfulness training is a feasible intervention to improve sleep in people with chronic back pain. Methods: . The design was a single-arm feasibility study using repeated measures over a six-week period. Participants were Australian residents aged 18 years or older, experiencing back pain for at least 12 weeks preceding the study, and self-reported sleep disturbance. Primary outcomes were the acceptability of and adherence to the intervention. 35 participants were screened for eligibility. Seven were eligible and provided consent. Results: Despite high acceptability of the intervention at baseline (15.4 out of 20) five of the seven participants did not complete the study, with feedback indicating they did not find the intervention as useful or acceptable as initial acceptability scores suggested they might. Conclusion: There is a need for studies with more supportive participant recruitment and retention strategies to conclusively determine if mindfulness training is a feasible intervention to improve sleep in people with chronic back pain. Patient or
Public Contribution: People living with chronic pain were participants in this study. They provided feedback on the intervention to inform future study designs on how the intervention could be tested successfully in larger populations.