BACKGROUND: It is estimated that 30% of adults in the United States experience 
daily chronic pain. This results in a significant burden on the health care 
system, in particular primary care, and on the workplace. Chronic pain 
management with cognitive-behavioral psychological treatment is effective in 
reducing pain intensity and interference, health-related quality of life, mood, 
and return to work. However, the population of individuals with chronic pain far 
exceeds the population of therapists that can provide this care face-to-face. 
The use of tailored, Web-based interventions for the management of chronic pain 
could address limitations to access by virtue of its unlimited scalability.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of a tailored Web-based chronic pain 
management program on subjective pain, activity and work interference, quality 
of life and health, and stress.
METHODS: Eligible participants accessed the online pain management program and 
informed consent via participating employer or health care benefit systems; 
program participants who completed baseline, 1-, and 6-month assessments were 
included in the study. Of the 645 participants, the mean age was 56.16 years (SD 
12.83), most were female (447/645, 69.3%), and white (505/641, 78.8%). Frequent 
pain complaints were joint (249/645, 38.6%), back (218/645, 33.8%), and 
osteoarthritis (174/654, 27.0%). The online pain management program used 
evidence-based theories of cognitive behavioral intervention, motivational 
enhancement, and health behavior change to address self-management, coping, 
medical adherence, social support, comorbidities, and productivity. The program 
content was individually tailored on several relevant participant variables.
RESULTS: Both pain intensity (mean 5.30, SD 2.46), and unpleasantness (mean 
5.43, SD 2.52) decreased significantly from baseline to 1-month (mean 4.16, SD 
2.69 and mean 4.24, 2.81, respectively) and 6-month (mean 3.78, SD 2.79 and mean 
3.78, SD 2.79, respectively) assessments (P<.001). The magnitude of the 6-month 
effects were large. Trends for decreases in pain interference (36.8% reported 
moderate or enormous interference) reached significance at 6 months (28.9%, 
P<.001). The percentage of the sample reporting fair or poor quality of life 
decreased significantly from 20.6% at baseline to 16.5% at 6 months (P=.006).
CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that the tailored online chronic pain management 
program showed promising effects on pain at 1 and 6 months posttreatment and 
quality of life at 6 months posttreatment in this naturalistic study. Further 
research is warranted to determine the significance and magnitude of the 
intervention's effects in a randomized controlled trial.