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Brain Imaging Study for Chronic Back Pain

N/A

Waitlist Available

Led By Javeria A Hashmi, PhD

Research Sponsored by Nova Scotia Health Authority

Eligibility Criteria Checklist

Specific guidelines that determine who can or cannot participate in a clinical trial

Must have

Healthy participant: 18 - 75 years of age

Healthy participant: Comfortable completing (reading and writing) questionnaires and tasks with English language instructions

Timeline

Screening 3 weeks

Treatment Varies

Follow Up 3 days after first visit

Awards & highlights

Study Summary

This trial aims to study the factors related to a person that can enhance or reduce the effectiveness of pain treatments in people suffering with chronic pain.

Who is the study for?

This trial is for adults aged 18-75 with chronic low back pain lasting over 6 months and experiencing moderate pain. Participants must be right-handed, comfortable with English, and able to undergo MRI scans without contraindications like metal implants or claustrophobia. Healthy volunteers matching the age and hand dominance criteria but without pain or significant health issues can also join.Check my eligibility

What is being tested?

The study is exploring how brain imaging can reveal biomarkers related to chronic back pain treatment effectiveness. It involves comparing responses of individuals on placebos, those on a waitlist, and healthy controls to understand the influence of biological, psychological, and social factors.See study design

What are the potential side effects?

Since this study primarily uses brain imaging rather than medication interventions, side effects are minimal but may include discomfort from staying still during MRI scans or anxiety in closed spaces.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

You may be eligible if you check “Yes” for the criteria below

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I am between 18 and 75 years old.

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I am comfortable with reading and writing in English for tasks and questionnaires.

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I have had chronic low back pain for more than 6 months.

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My average pain level has been 4 or more out of 10 in the past two weeks.

Timeline

Screening ~ 3 weeks3 visits

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~ 3 days after first visit

Screening ~ 3 weeks

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~3 days after first visit

This trial's timeline: 3 weeks for screening, Varies for treatment, and 3 days after first visit for reporting.

Treatment Details

Study Objectives

Outcome measures can provide a clearer picture of what you can expect from a treatment.

Primary outcome measures

Pain modulation - using an experimental task that tests a person's ability to form positive expectations

Trial Design

3Treatment groups

Experimental Treatment

Group I: WaitlistExperimental Treatment1 Intervention

Chronic Back Pain participants will not be given any placebo and will be requested to report their pain on paper forms organized as a calendar.

Group II: PlacebosExperimental Treatment1 Intervention

Chronic Back Pain participants will enter an optional placebo trial. This phase of the study will test the clinical usefulness of the biomarkers. We will measure how expectation of starting a new treatment reduces 'clinical back pain' in each participant. Positive treatment expectations will be induced by giving them capsules containing inert material and telling them that the capsules contain an effective drug that has been approved for treating Chronic Back Pain. They will be requested to take two capsules twice a day and report their pain on paper forms organized as a calendar.

Group III: Healthy ControlsExperimental Treatment1 Intervention

Healthy control participants will complete the main part of the study, but will not be asked to take a placebo or be placed on a waitlist.

0 / 4Eligibility criteria met

Find a Location

Who is running the clinical trial?

Nova Scotia Health AuthorityLead Sponsor

257 Previous Clinical Trials

83,564 Total Patients Enrolled

Javeria A Hashmi, PhDPrincipal InvestigatorDalhousie University

Media Library

Placebos Clinical Trial Eligibility Overview. Trial Name: NCT02991625 — N/A

Back Pain Research Study Groups: Waitlist, Healthy Controls, Placebos

Back Pain Clinical Trial 2023: Placebos Highlights & Side Effects. Trial Name: NCT02991625 — N/A

Placebos 2023 Treatment Timeline for Medical Study. Trial Name: NCT02991625 — N/A

Frequently Asked Questions

These questions and answers are submitted by anonymous patients, and have not been verified by our internal team.

Am I eligible to enroll in this clinical research effort?

"Eligibility criteria for this trial necessitates participants have chronic back ache and be aged 18 to 75. A total of 250 people are anticipated to join the research study."

Answered by AI

Is the research team still in search of participants for this project?

"Records on clinicaltrials.gov demonstrate that, while this particular trial has not been actively recruiting since March 2020, there are presently 285 other trials enrolling patients. The initial posting for the study was in January 2018 and no updates have been made to it after March 11th of 2020."

Answered by AI

Is the elderly population qualified to partake in this investigation?

"To be eligible to join this medical trial, a person must range in age from 18-75 years old. In addition, there are 8 studies specifically targeting those under 18 and 226 trials for elderly citizens aged 65 or over."

Answered by AI

Recent research and studies

Journal of NeuroscienceJournal

Functional Network Architecture Predicts Psychologically Mediated Analgesia Related to Treatment in Chronic Knee Pain Patients

Hashmi, J. A., J. Kong, R. Spaeth, S. Khan, T. J. Kaptchuk, and R. L. Gollub. 2014. “Functional Network Architecture Predicts Psychologically Mediated Analgesia Related to Treatment in Chronic Knee Pain Patients”. Journal of Neuroscience. Society for Neuroscience. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3155-13.2014.

PainJournal

Predictors of the Placebo Analgesia Response in Randomized Controlled Trials of Chronic Pain

Vase, Lene, Jan Vollert, Nanna B. Finnerup, Xiaopeng Miao, Gary Atkinson, Scott Marshall, Robert Nemeth, et al.. 2015. “Predictors of the Placebo Analgesia Response in Randomized Controlled Trials of Chronic Pain”. Pain. Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000217.

PainJournal

Brain Networks Predicting Placebo Analgesia in a Clinical Trial for Chronic Back Pain

Hashmi, Javeria A., Alex T. Baria, Marwan N. Baliki, Lejian Huang, Thomas J. Schnitzer, and Vania A. Apkarian. 2012. “Brain Networks Predicting Placebo Analgesia in a Clinical Trial for Chronic Back Pain”. Pain. Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). doi:10.1016/j.pain.2012.08.008.

BrainJournal