Title: Aiding Pain Management by Combating Misconceptions about Exercise and Pain
Investigator: David Dunning, PhD, Professor of Psychology at Cornell University, Ithaca
Overview: This pilot study will examine the prevalence of misconceptions about exercise and pain in a community sample, examine their associations with behavioral intentions to engage in physical activity, and test an educational intervention to address such misconceptions. The general aims of this pilot are two fold, and will conduct: 1) a survey of older adults to assess the prevalence of misconceptions about the link between exercise and pain, exploring whether such false beliefs are related to rejection of accepted evidence-based practices that emphasize as means of managing pain, and 2) a persuasive communication via the same survey, to explore whether explicitly combating these beliefs before describing appropriate pain management procedures aids in the adoption of exercise in pain relief.