Rewiring Chronic Pain

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT): In this full PRT, the participants will receive pain reprocessing therapy twice a week for four weeks (a total of 8 sessions). This treatment focuses on psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring and somatic elements. In the Partial PRT, participants will receive the same intervention, but without the somatic element.

TAU: Participants in this arm will receive treatment as usual.

Study summary

This study examines the effectiveness of a brief psychological intervention for chronic pain treatment, as well as the psychological and neurophysiological mechanisms associated with changes in pain intensity.

Participants with chronic pain will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: two types of brief psychological interventions and a treatment-as-usual control group. Throughout the study, participants will attend a series of therapeutic sessions, complete questionnaires, undergo brain measurements (EEG and MRI), and participate in physiological monitoring using a smartwatch.

The study aims to investigate which cognitive and physiological changes occur during the intervention, and whether early markers can be identified that may predict improvement in pain following this type of treatment. In addition, differences between cognitive and somatic components of the intervention will be examined to better understand which elements contribute to clinical change, and to determine whether knowledge alone is sufficient or whether participants must undergo a bodily experience in order to produce changes in pain levels.

The goal of the study is to improve understanding of the mechanisms underlying chronic pain and responses to psychological treatments, and to contribute to the development of more personalized, effective treatments with minimal side effects in the future.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Average pain intensity in the first week post-treatment — Twice a day for 6 weeks
  Participants will be prompted twice daily via the Labfront app, connected to their wearable, to respond to the following single item from the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI): "Please rate your pain by circling the one number that tells how much pain you have right now," rated on a 0-10 numeric scale (0 = "No pain"; 10 = "Pain as bad as you can imagine"). Prompts will be delivered during 6 weeks, where the primary outcome will be the mean of all valid responses collected during the first week post-treatment.

Trial sites (1)

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