Are the variables the coaches and the 2 hour training program? What would be the operational definitions? Is that a description of how the coaches and 2 hour training program work? Is this a nominal or ordinal level of measurement?

Please see below;

BACKGROUND: Pain self-management is an effective, evidence-based treatment for chronic pain. Peer support, in which patients serve as coaches for other patients, has been effective in other chronic conditions and is a potentially promising approach to implementing pain self management programs using fewer clinical resources.

OBJECTIVE: To test a peer coach-delivered pain self management program for chronic pain.

DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial.

PARTICIPANTS: Veterans with chronic musculoskeletal pain.

INTERVENTION: Intervention patients were assigned a trained peer coach for 6 months. Coaches, who were volunteers, were asked to contact their assigned patients, either by phone or in person, twice per month. Coaches and patients were given an intervention manual to guide sessions. The control group was offered a 2-hour pain selfmanagement class.

MAIN MEASURES: The primary outcome was total pain, assessed by the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI). Secondary outcomes were anxiety, depression, pain catastrophizing, self-efficacy, social support, patient activation, health related quality of life, and healthcare utilization. Outcomes were measured at baseline, 6 months, and 9 months

KEY RESULTS: Two hundred fifteen patients enrolled (120 intervention, 95 control). Adherence to intervention protocol was low, with only 13% of patients reporting having at least the recommended 12 peer coach meetings over the 6-month intervention. BPI total decreased from baseline to 6 months and baseline to 9 months in both groups. At 9 months, this change was statistically significant (intervention, 0.40, p = 0.018; control, 0.47, p = 0.006). There was not a statistically significant difference between groups on BPI at either time point. No secondary outcomes improved significantly in either group after adjusting for multiple comparisons. CONCLUSIONS: Patients randomized to peer support did not differ from control patients on primary and secondary outcomes. Other peer support models that do not rely on volunteers might be more effective

Identify two key study variables. Describe theoperational definitionsof each variable and evaluate the quality and clarity of these definitions.

Describe whatlevel of measurement(nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio) the authors used for the two variables you identified