The Effects of a Pain Management-Focused Mobile Health Behavior Intervention on Older Adults’ Self-efficacy, Satisfaction with Functioning, and Quality of Life: a Randomized Pilot Trial

Abstract

Background: This report investigates the impact of a remote physical activity intervention on self-efficacy, satisfaction with functioning, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) as assessed by the SF-36 in obese older adults with chronic pain. The intervention was group-mediated in nature and based in social cognitive theory and mindfulness-based relapse prevention. Methods: Participants (N = 28; 70.21 ± 5.22 years) were randomly assigned to receive either the active intervention, which focused on reducing caloric intake and increasing steps across the day or to a waitlist control condition. Results: Over 12 weeks, intervention participants reported a moderate, positive improvement in self-efficacy for walking relative to control. They also reported large magnitude improvements in satisfaction for physical functioning as well as improvements on pain and the physical functioning subscales of the SF-36. Conclusions: These findings expand on previous research showing similar effects in response to structured exercise, this time via a protocol that is likely to be scalable and sustainable for many older adults. Additional work on larger and more diverse samples is warranted.