CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT03828669Updated Jul 8, 2021

Recovery Toolkits: Assessment of Pragmatic Behavioral Pain Medicine Delivered In Hospital After Surgery

An observational study in Post Surgical Pain, sponsored by Stanford University. Completed at 1 site in United States. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-07-08.

Sponsored by Stanford University · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
649
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Behavioral pain medicine is largely absent from perioperative pathways, and on post-surgical recovery units. The goal of this project was to develop and implement "Recovery Toolkits", physical branded bags presented to patients after surgery. The "Recovery Toolkits" include a descriptive brochure and orientation to the contents of the bag. "Recovery Toolkits" include a behavioral pain medicine self-help book, an app with a downloadable pain management audiofile, earbuds, and a pen. Patients on each unit have access to iPads where they may view a digital behavioral pain medicine program ("My Surgical Success"), consisting of three 15-minute video learning modules. The "Recovery Toolkits" are psychologist-developed and nurse-delivered to every patient on the surgical recovery units. This pragmatic project seeks to understand:

  1. Nurse perceived value of the intervention
  2. Burden to nurses to deliver the intervention to all patients
  3. Patient engagement with the Recovery Toolkits
  4. Patient perceived value of the Recovery Toolkits
  5. Patient satisfaction with pain care
  6. Impact of Recovery Toolkits on pain and opioid use in hospital and at one-month discharge relative to a pre-Recovery Toolkit program cohort of patients.
Read the detailed description

The Stanford "Recovery Toolkit" program is delivered by nurses across multiple surgical recovery units and surgery types, including neurosurgery, spine, and orthopedic surgeries. All patients who enter the units are offered a "Recovery Toolkit", which is a physical and branded bag. The program includes the following elements: a descriptive brochure and orientation to the contents of the bag. "Recovery Toolkits" include a behavioral pain medicine self-help book, an app with a downloadable pain management audiofile, earbuds, and a pen. Patients on all participating units have access to iPads where they may view a digital behavioral pain medicine program ("My Surgical Success"), consisting of three 15-minute video learning modules.

At discharge, patients are asked to evaluate their pain care and perception about the "Recovery Toolkit" in a 10-item survey that includes items as to whether the patient received a "Recovery Toolkit" (yes/no), did they use the "Recovery Toolkit" (yes/no), their satisfaction with the "Recovery Toolkit" (6-point likert scale), and recommendation for continuing the program (5-point likert scale). Chart review will extract data for demographics, surgery type, existing pain conditions and comorbidities, pain intensity scores averaged over the duration of their inpatient stay, as well as total opioid use during hospital stay and a daily average for inpatient opioid use. At one month after surgery, patients who agreed to be contacted will be asked their average pain intensity (0-10), whether they are taking opioid medication (yes/no) and how much (morphine equivalent daily dose), whether they have used the Recovery Toolkit information (yes/no), and, if yes, to please rate the helpfulness of the Recovery Toolkit information (0-10).

Nurses will be surveyed to determine the level of burden to deliver the intervention (0-6), their perceived value of the intervention to their patients (0-6), and their assessment on whether the program should be continued/expanded (0-6).

02

Conditions studied

  • Post Surgical Pain

Browse trials for

Keywords

  • behavioral medicine
  • pain
  • perioperative
  • enhanced recovery after surgery
  • surgery
  • intervention
  • post-operative pain
  • opioid
  • digital
03

In context

Pain, Postoperative

5,093 studies on the registry are indexed under Pain, Postoperative; 1,140 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 649 is above the median of 102 across 608 observational studies indexed under Pain, Postoperative.

Browse Pain, Postoperative studies →

Lead sponsor

Stanford University is the lead sponsor of 2,117 studies on the registry; 425 are open to participants now.

Of its 259 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 197 (76%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
Child (0–17), Adult (18–64), Older adult (65+)
Sexes eligible
All
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Post-surgical inpatients (spine, neurosurgery, and other specialties)

Inclusion criteria

  • Everyone

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • None, though Recovery Toolkits are English language
05

Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
649 participants (actual)
Patient registry
No

Groups and cohorts

  • Usual Care

    Prior to the roll-out of the Recovery Toolkit program, all post-surgical patients receiving current standard of care are given pain care surveys at hospital discharge. Survey questions ask about pain, and satisfaction with pain care. The investigators will conduct chart review for pain and opioid use.

  • Recovery Toolkit

    After launch of the Recovery Toolkit program on Jan 25, all post-surgical patients will be offered a Recovery Toolkit by a unit nurse. A pain survey will be administered at hospital discharge to assess about pain in the hospital, satisfaction with pain care, whether they received a Toolkit, use of the Toolkit, and likelihood to recommend the Toolkit. The investigators will conduct chart review for pain and opioid use.

    Behavioral: Recovery Toolkits

Interventions

  • BehavioralRecovery Toolkits

    Recovery Toolkits are presented to patients in a branded bag and include a brochure, a self-help behavioral pain medicine book, a downloadable app, earbuds, and access to digital behavioral medicine (the "My Surgical Success" program including online educational videos)

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Satisfaction with Recovery Toolkits

    6-point scale

    Time frame: 10 minute survey administered at hospital discharge

  2. Likelihood to recommend

    5-point scale

    Time frame: 10 minute survey administered at hospital discharge

Secondary outcomes

  1. Binary Opioid Use

    Average Morphine Equivalent Daily Dose

    Time frame: Duration of inpatient hospital stay

  2. Average Pain

    Average of all pain ratings (0-10 numeric rating scale)

    Time frame: Duration of inpatient hospital stay

  3. Opioid Daily Dose

    Morphine Equivalent Daily Dose

    Time frame: 5 minuute survey administered 1 month after surgery

  4. Opioid use

    Binary question about continued opioid use (yes/no)

    Time frame: 5 minute survey administered 1 month after surgery

  5. Average Pain Intensity

    Rating on 0-10 numeric rating scale

    Time frame: 5 minute survey administered 1 month after surgery

  6. Opioid use

    Morphine Equivalent Daily Dose

    Time frame: 5 minute survey administered 1 month after surgery

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Stanford Hospital
    Palo Alto, California 94034, United States
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jul 8, 2021, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03828669
Lead sponsor
Stanford University
Responsible party
Beth Darnall (Principal Investigator, Stanford University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Feb 4, 2019
Start date
Jan 25, 2019
Primary completion
Feb 16, 2021
Completion
Feb 16, 2021
Last update
Jul 8, 2021

Study contacts

Beth Darnall, PhD
principal investigator · Stanford University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Jul 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion