Chronic pain impacts many Canadians, but everyone’s experience with it is unique. Some people have pain that fluctuates, whereas others have constant levels of pain intensity. We want to learn more about how the pain experience differs between individuals so that pain may be more effectively managed in the future.
Participating in the CircaPain study will provide our team with valuable knowledge that will guide future pain management practices. Additionally, by participating in our study, including completing our electronic diary, you may learn more about your own experiences with pain. Having a deep understanding of how your pain may change throughout the day or the week can help you manage your symptoms and assert yourself in healthcare settings.
This study is completed online and has two main parts. Firstly, you will complete the baseline questionnaire. This is where we will learn about you and your experiences with chronic pain. After you complete the baseline questionnaire, you will be sent a link to complete the electronic diary. This is a short survey that will be sent to you by email or text message to complete 3 times a day (at 8:00 AM, 2:00 PM, and 8:00 PM) for 10 days. This diary helps us understand how your pain may change or remain constant throughout the week. You can then choose to participate in our follow-ups, which involve you completing the above questionnaire and diaries 6 months after your original completion, and then again 1 year after your original completion. The links to complete the follow-ups will be sent directly to you when the time for completion has arrived.
Yes! We want to know about the pain that you are feeling, diagnosed or not – after all, you are the expert on your own experiences.
Don’t worry if you miss a timepoint! Just do the next one at the right time. Try to fill out the diary within one hour of receiving the email containing the survey link. Missing a couple diary timepoints is fine, but unfortunately if too many are missed, we will not be able to use your data. Setting phone alarms that will go off at 8:00 AM, 2:00 PM, and 8:00 PM everyday (the times at which you will receive the emails) will help you remember to fill out the diary.
Yes! Our survey uses the platform REDCap to collect responses, which is very secure and designed to protect health information.
Transparency and accessibility are very important to our team. We will be sharing our results as we collect and analyze them on the CircaPain Dashboard and Blog. The results shared here will not contain any identifying information to protect the privacy of our participants. Links to any publications that arise from this project will also be cross-posted to our blog and our social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). Follow us to stay updated on our research!
The CircaPain project is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) as well as the CIHR Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research Chronic Pain Network (CIHR-SPOR CPN).
Email our team at mydailypain@ghasemloulab.ca with any questions, comments, or concerns that you have about our study!
