The reduction in the health-related quality of life of those affected also creates a high personal and financial burden.
But a University of Otago-led study has found providing an online programme to help those living with persistent pain could remove barriers to accessing help — particularly for people living in socioeconomically deprived areas and those aged over 65, who are at the highest risk.
Lead author and School of Physiotherapy researcher Prof Leigh Hale said completing a multidisciplinary pain management programme offered by specialist pain services was an effective approach to support people living with persistent pain.
"However, specialist pain services in New Zealand are under-resourced, with all reporting long waiting lists.
"For one service, this wait can be up to nine months.
"People also often have to overcome geographic barriers and transport costs, and we also know Māori experience stigma, systemic racism and restricted access to healthcare, which leads to inequitable health outcomes," she said.
To help those affected, researchers and clinicians from the Wellington Regional Pain Service developed an online pain management programme called iSelf-help, co-created with people who had lived experience of persistent pain.
The programme consisted of two group video conferencing sessions each week for 12 weeks — one with a peer-support person and one with a clinician, with access to resources on an app and website.
Prof Hale said the study compared iSelf-help with an in-person programme available at present and found it to be cheaper and more accessible, with similar overall satisfaction scores.
If the programme was adopted, it could increase the range of equitable, accessible solutions for those with the condition, she said.
It would also be the first initiative to integrate lived-experience expertise as part of mainstream pain management services.
"Given that persistent pain affects hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders, enabling greater reach for interventions that can be of benefit is significant.
If both online and in-person programmes were offered, "people would be empowered by choice", she said.
