Exercise Adherence Strategies in Chronic Pain Management
Summary
Chronic pain presents a persistent challenge to healthcare systems worldwide, with non-adherence to prescribed exercise regimens undermining clinical outcomes and inflating long-term costs. Exercise adherence strategies aim to bridge the gap between prescription and practice by addressing the multifactorial barriers that hinder sustained engagement. These barriers include pain flare-ups, psychological factors such as fear-avoidance and low self-efficacy, practical constraints of time and access, and the complexity of exercise programmes. Effective strategies adopt a patient-centred approach that combines clear education, graded exercise progression, motivational interviewing and professional support, often delivered through both in-person and digital platforms. Behaviour change techniques—such as goal setting, self-monitoring, feedback and booster sessions—are integrated to foster autonomous motivation and empowerment. Digital health applications extend accessibility, enabling remote supervision, real-time tracking and adaptive feedback, while robust adherence measurement tools ensure reliable assessment of engagement. By tailoring interventions to individual determinants, clinicians can enhance exercise uptake, optimise pain management and promote long-term functional improvement on a global scale.
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Exercise Adherence Strategies in Chronic Pain Management publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in exercise adherence strategies in chronic pain management across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Exercise adherence: The extent to which a patient consistently follows a prescribed exercise programme.
Behaviour change techniques: Systematic procedures such as goal setting, self-monitoring and feedback designed to alter motivational and behavioural determinants.
Digital health application: A software tool on mobile or web platforms that delivers exercise programmes, monitoring and educational content remotely.
Graded exercise: A progressive approach that incrementally increases exercise intensity or duration to build tolerance and confidence.
Booster session: A follow-up contact or supervised session aimed at reinforcing adherence strategies and addressing emerging barriers.
Self-efficacy: An individual’s belief in their capability to execute behaviours required to manage their condition effectively.
References
- Postmarketing Follow-Up of a Digital Home Exercise Program for Back, Hip, and Knee Pain: Retrospective Observational Study With a Time-Series and Matched-Pair Analysis. Journal of Medical Internet Research (2023).
- Efficacy of interventions and techniques on adherence to physiotherapy in adults: an overview of systematic reviews and panoramic meta-analysis. Systematic Reviews (2024).
- Do digital interventions increase adherence to home exercise rehabilitation? A systematic review of randomised controlled trials. Archives of Physiotherapy (2022).
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