NCT03244046

Low Back Pain and Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Somatic Experiencing for Patients With Low Back Pain and Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Unknown
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 140 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Southern Denmark · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 70 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The aim is to test whether the psychotherapeutic intervention Somatic Experiencing targeting Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms will have an additional positive effect on the outcomes of guided physiotherapy against chronic back pain development.

Detailed description

Introduction: Patients with low back pain after injuries often demonstrate symptoms of PTSD measured via the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire Scale (HTQ). It has been found that PTSD and pain may maintain each other. Methods: Thousand consecutive patients with Low Back Pain (LBP) referred to the Spine Center are screened for PTSD. It is expected that 140 patients will meet the inclusion criteria and be randomized to Guided Physiotherapy or to Guided Physiotherapy plus 12 psychotherapeutic sessions, that will include the shock-trauma method 'Somatic Experiencing'. Effect parameters are: Pain, daily function, EuroQOL and (HTQ), anxiety and depression, fear avoidance (Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia) and pain catastrophizing (PCS) on entry, and at 6/12 months.

Conditions

• Low Back Pain
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Psychotherapy	The SE intervention followed the nine-step model as outlined by Peter Levine (2010) and involved gradually eliciting awareness of body sensations associated with the traumatic event. By the process of 'titration', patients were gradually encouraged to access somatic activation, feelings and body sensations as means to restore equilibrium to the autonomic nervous system and thereby alleviate hyperarousal, re-experiencing and avoidance of trauma-related experiences and thoughts.
BEHAVIORAL	Physiotherapy	This treatment consisted of supervised exercises for low back pain delivered in 12 sessions and performed by physiotherapists in the center according to the European guidelines for the management of chronic low back pain (Airaksinen, et al., 2006).

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-01-05
• Primary completion: 2017-12-01
• Completion: 2018-07-01
• First posted: 2017-08-09
• Last updated: 2017-08-09