Objective Oncologic breast surgeries carry a risk for persistent postsurgical pain. This study was a randomized pilot and feasibility study of a single‐session Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) intervention compared with treatment as usual among women undergoing surgery for breast cancer or ductal carcinoma in situ. Methods Participants were recruited via letter of invitation and follow‐up phone call from a single site in the United States from 2015 to 2017. Participants were at risk for persistent postsurgical pain, based on young age (<50), a preexisting chronic pain condition, or elevated anxiety, depression, or pain catastrophizing. Results The 54 participants were female with a mean age of 52.91 years (SD=11.80). At 3‐month postsurgery, 11% of the sample reported moderate‐severe pain (>3 on a 0‐10 numeric rating scale) in the operative breast or with arm movement. Written qualitative responses indicated that the majority of participants who received the intervention understood the concepts presented and reported continued practice of exercises learned in the session. The between group effect sizes for moderate‐severe pain and elevated anxiety at 3‐month post‐surgery were small (Phi=0.08 and 0.16, respectively). The between group effect sizes for depression, pain acceptance, and pain catastrophizing at 3‐month postsurgery were minimal. Conclusions This study found small positive effects on postsurgical pain and anxiety for a single‐session ACT intervention among women with breast cancer. This study supports the use of ACT with this population.

The patient-reported outcomes measurement information system (PROMIS) offers standardized assessment measures of clinically relevant patient-reported outcomes. This study evaluated the reliability and validity of select PROMIS measures with U.S. military veterans following orthopedic surgery. Data for the current study were collected as part of a pilot randomized control trial assessing the efficacy of a 1-day Acceptance and Commitment Therapy workshop on persistent postsurgical pain in at-risk veterans undergoing orthopedic surgery. Sixty-seven participants completed surveys 3 months after surgery. Participants completed the following PROMIS instruments: PROMIS Anxiety Short Form 8a, PROMIS Depression Short Form 8b, and PROMIS Pain Interference Short Form 8a. PROMIS measures were compared to the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-Item Scale, and the Brief Pain Inventory Pain Interference subscale, respectively. All three PROMIS measures demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s αs ranged from .93 to .96) and each loaded onto a single factor. The PROMIS measures were moderately correlated with their respective comparison measures ( r = .69 to .76). The PROMIS anxiety and PROMIS depression measures were highly correlated to one another ( r = .91). Findings highlight the potential utility of these PROMIS measures in veterans following orthopedic surgery and the overlap between the PROMIS depression and anxiety measures in this sample.

These findings demonstrate that the majority of patients' pain and functioning remains stable between 6 weeks and 6 months post-TKA. However, a notable subset continues to improve or worsen in pain and functioning and the current study identifies variables associated with these changes.

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