Courtney Hess

All Publications

• Virtual Reality-Augmented Physiotherapy for Chronic Pain in Youth: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial Enhanced With a Single-Case Experimental Design. JMIR research protocols Simons, L. E., Hess, C. W., Choate, E. S., Van Orden, A. R., Tremblay-McGaw, A. G., Menendez, M., Boothroyd, D. B., Parvathinathan, G., Griffin, A., Caruso, T. J., Stinson, J., Weisman, A., Liu, T., Koeppen, K. 2022; 11 (12): e40705

  Abstract

  BACKGROUND: Chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain is a prominent health concern, resulting in pain-related disability, loss of functioning, and high health care costs. Physiotherapy rehabilitation is a gold-standard treatment for improving functioning in youth with chronic MSK pain. However, increasing physical activity can feel unattainable for many adolescents because of pain-related fear and movement avoidance. Virtual reality (VR) offers an immersive experience that can interrupt the fear-avoidance cycle and improve engagement in physiotherapy. Despite promising initial findings, data are limited and often lack the rigor required to establish VR as an evidence-based treatment for MSK pain.OBJECTIVE: This trial evaluates physiorehabilitation with VR in adolescents with MSK pain. This protocol outlines the rationale, design, and implementation of a randomized controlled trial enhanced with a single-case experimental design.METHODS: This study is a 2-group randomized controlled trial assessing the use of physiorehabilitation with VR in adolescents with MSK pain. The authors will collaborate with physical therapists to integrate VR into their standard clinical care. For participants enrolled in standard physiotherapy, there will be no VR integrated into their physical therapy program. Primary outcomes include physical function and engagement in VR. Secondary outcomes include pain-related fear and treatment adherence. Moreover, we will obtain clinician perspectives regarding the feasibility of integrating the intervention into the flow of clinical practice.RESULTS: The pilot study implementing physiorehabilitation with VR demonstrated that high engagement and use of physiorehabilitation with VR were associated with improvements in pain, fear, avoidance, and function. Coupled with qualitative feedback from patients, families, and clinicians, the pilot study results provide support for this trial to evaluate physiorehabilitation with VR for youth with chronic MSK pain. Analysis of results from the main clinical trial will begin as recruitment progresses, and results are expected in early 2024.CONCLUSIONS: Significant breakthroughs for treating MSK pain require mechanistically informed innovative approaches. Physiorehabilitation with VR provides exposure to progressive challenges, real-time feedback, and reinforcement for movement and can include activities that are difficult to achieve in the real world. It has the added benefit of sustaining patient motivation and adherence while enabling clinicians to use objective benchmarks to influence progression. These findings will inform the decision of whether to proceed with a hybrid effectiveness-dissemination trial of physiorehabilitation with VR, serving as the basis for potential large-scale implementation of physiorehabilitation with VR.TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04636177; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04636177.INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/40705.

  View details for DOI 10.2196/40705

  View details for PubMedID 36508251

• Targeting Pain Science Education in Youth with Chronic Pain: What are the Sticking Points for Youth and Their Parents? The Clinical journal of pain Pate, J. W., Harrison, L. E., Hess, C. W., Moseley, G. L., Rush, G., Heathcote, L. C., Simons, L. E. 2022

  Abstract

  An important part of providing pain science education is to first assess baseline knowledge and beliefs about pain, thereby identifying misconceptions and establishing individually-tailored learning objectives. The Concept of Pain Inventory (COPI) was developed to support this need. This study aimed to characterize concept of pain in care-seeking youth and their parents, to examine its clinical and demographic correlates, and to identify conceptual gaps.Following an initial interdisciplinary evaluation, a cohort of 127 youth aged 8-18 years, and their parents, completed a series of questionnaires.Parents had slightly higher COPI scores than youth did, reflecting parents' greater alignment with contemporary pain science. The moderate positive association with older age among youth (r=.32) suggests that the COPI is sensitive to cognitive development and/or life experiences. Youth and parent COPI responses were weakly associated (r=0.24), highlighting the importance of targeting concept of pain in both groups. For both parents and youth, 'Learning about pain can help you feel less pain' was the least endorsed concept. This conceptual 'gap' is a key point of intervention, that could potentially lead to greater engagement with multidisciplinary pain treatment.The COPI appears useful for identifying conceptual gaps or 'sticking points'; this may be an important step to pre-emptively address misconceptions about pain via pain science education. Future research should determine the utility of the COPI in assessing and treating youth seeking care for pain. The COPI may be a useful tool for tailoring pain science education to youth and their parents.

  View details for DOI 10.1097/AJP.0000000000001088

  View details for PubMedID 36453624

• Looking inward to improve pediatric chronic pain outcomes: a call for team science research. Pain Hess, C. W., Rosen, M. A., Simons, L. E. 2022

  View details for DOI 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002836

  View details for PubMedID 36637136

• Application of painDETECT in Pediatric Chronic Pain: How Well Does It Identify Neuropathic Pain and Its Characteristics? Van Orden, A., Hess, C. W., Mesaroli, G., Stinson, J., Borsook, D., Simons, L. E. CHURCHILL LIVINGSTONE. 2022: 51

  View details for Web of Science ID 000792497000192

• Lived Experiences of an Elite Performance Management Team Through Injury Rehabilitation: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis JOURNAL OF SPORT REHABILITATION Hess, C. W., Meyer, B. B. 2022; 31 (2): 199-210

  Abstract

  Injury is a common and challenging experience for many athletes, and return-to-sport outcomes have been persistently poor despite advancements in research and practice. To ameliorate this challenge and to bridge a gap that exists in the sport injury literature between theoretical conceptualization and intervention design, research is needed to explore team-based approaches to professional practice. The current study aimed to begin this work through exploration of a single performance management team (PMT) through 2 injury and rehabilitation cases leading into and across the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.Qualitative, interpretative phenomenological analysis.Interviews were conducted with the 5 members of the PMT (coach, physiotherapist, sport psychology consultant, case manager, and athlete) involved in both injury cases. Lower-order and higher order themes were identified and interpreted through the extent literature.Results indicate that 3 higher order themes interacted to impact the lived experiences of the PMT members across the 2 injury cases. Participants described the sociocultural context that surrounded the team, the individual struggles they faced, and the functioning of the team as the primary contributors to their lived experiences as well as observed rehabilitation outcomes.Findings of this study mirror previous research in team science within the general health care domain, and prompt ongoing exploration of how to improve the experiences for PMT members as well as rehabilitation and return-to-sport outcomes for athletes.

  View details for DOI 10.1123/jsr.2021-0072

  View details for Web of Science ID 000791037300010

  View details for PubMedID 34784584