Learning the neurobiology of pain: A scoping review of pain education from an instructional design perspective

Abstract

ObjectivesLearning modern pain biology concepts can improve important clinical outcomes for people with chronic pain. The primary purpose of this scoping review is to examine and report characteristics of chronic musculoskeletal pain education programs from an instructional design perspective. MethodsFollowing PRISMA-ScR guidelines, PubMed, Medline, and CINAHL databases were systematically searched. Articles included expert recommendations and those reporting pain education programs used in clinical trials enrolling adults with chronic neuromusculoskeletal pain and published in English between 1990 and 2021. Three authors independently evaluated articles for eligibility through title, abstract, and full text review. Instructional design characteristics such as learning outcomes, support materials, learning assessment methods, and key concepts communicated were summarized. ResultsThe search revealed 5260 articles of which 40 were included: 27 clinical studies, 7 expert recommendations, and 6 articles reporting on pain education from participant perspectives. Detailed reporting of instructional design characteristics informing replication in subsequent studies is sparse. Most included trials used only lecture and did not assess participant learning. ConclusionsMore comprehensive reporting of pain education programs is needed to facilitate replicability. Practical implicationsThis article proposes detailed and standardized reporting of trials using pain education programs employing a modified version of the TIDieR checklist.