NCT06051305

Flexible Attention Sensory Training for Youth with Chronic Pain

Flexible Attention Sensory Training for Youth with Chronic Pain: a Feasibility and Acceptability Study

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 27 (actual)
• Sponsor: Stanford University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 10 Years – 17 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine the feasibility and acceptability of gamified sensory rehabilitation training technology for children with chronic musculoskeletal pain.

Detailed description

The TrainPain devices allows patients with chronic pain to perform sensory rehabilitation training at home, in a gamified format. The system uses a temporary tactile discrimination task, which directly engages inhibitory functions of the somatosensory cortex. In this way, the game trains the brain's sensory system to be more precise. The technology's dual-probe system allows sensory stimuli to be delivered to multiple body locations, which trains patients to flexibly shift their attention towards and away from pain according to dynamic game-directed goals. The sensory training reduces hypervigilance towards painful body regions and enables flexible attention shifting to engage with daily goals. Last, the TrainPain system captures and quantifies performance over time, providing a breadth of intricate and precise data, thus allowing the research team to assess outcomes and mechanisms of training effects. In preliminary studies with adults, TrainPain is shown to be highly engaging, and effective at reducing pain in adults with widespread musculoskeletal (MSK) pain. The current pilot study intends to establish, for the first time, the feasibility and acceptability of using the TrainPain system among youth with chronic MSK pain.

Conditions

• Persistent Pain

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Sensory Training	Participants will use gamified sensory training technology once daily for 8 weeks. This will involve participants completing a 15 minute sensory training session using the provided technology. The tool used in this study has two components. The first is a game that can be downloaded onto any smartphone device. The second component is two tactile devices that can be attached to the body.

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-10-16
• Primary completion: 2025-01-09
• Completion: 2025-01-17
• First posted: 2023-09-22
• Last updated: 2025-03-04

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States