Talking therapy over the phone improves symptoms of chronic widespread pain

Talking therapy provided over the phone can have a positive impact on people suffering from chronic widespread pain compared to usual care provided by their GP, new research has shown. Patients who received a short course of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) over the telephone from trained therapists reported that they felt "better” or "very much better” at the end of a six-month treatment period, and also three months after it ended. The Arthritis Research UK-funded trial, led by the University of Aberdeen working with The University of Manchester, was the first-ever trial of telephone-delivered CBT for people with chronic widespread pain. Cognitive behavioural therapy is a psychological method of helping people manage their pain by identifying and evaluating thoughts and behaviour. Exercise was also shown to improve pain and disability and helped people manage their symptoms. However, the study - published in the Archives of Internal Medicine this week - showed there was no additional advantage of receiving both types of treatment over receiving just one. Chronic widespread pain is the main feature of fibromyalgia, and affects ten per cent of the population and is extremely difficult to treat.