When does acute pain become chronic?
C Voscopoulos, M Lema
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21148657Actively Recruiting
Age: 18Years +
All Genders
Healthy Volunteers
ID05754190
Assessing Symptom and Mood Dynamics in Pain Using the Smartphone Application SOMA
Led by Brown University · Updated on 2025-09-19
800
Participants Needed
1
Research Sites
N/A
Total Duration
On this page
AI-Summary
What this Trial Is About
Researchers are studying how daily changes in mood, pain, and activity relate to acute and chronic pain using a smartphone app called SOMA. The study includes people with acute pain, chronic pain, and healthy controls. A smaller sub-study focuses on patients with chronic low back pain, failed back surgery syndrome, or fibromyalgia, using EEG testing to explore brain and behavior patterns that might predict treatment responses. Participants will use the SOMA app daily for four months to track their symptoms and activities. Those in the sub-study will also attend an in-person EEG session to perform specific tasks before starting app use. Data collected will help identify patterns linked to pain transition, recovery, or flare-ups. The study also monitors app engagement and symptom dynamics over up to 12 months. During the study, participants will report pain, mood, and activity daily through the app. Researchers will analyze these reports alongside baseline and follow-up EEG and behavioral tests. Outcomes include measuring the likelihood of acute pain becoming chronic and understanding mood and pain interactions. Participants' progress and app usage will be observed over time to assess feasibility and treatment effects.
CONDITIONS
Brief Title
Assessing Symptom and Mood Dynamics in Pain Using the Smartphone Application SOMA
Who Can Participate
Age: 18Years +
All Genders
Healthy Volunteers
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if you...
- Adults aged 18 years or older
- Access to a personal smartphone and a stable internet connection
- For chronic pain group: pain lasting more than 6 months
- For chronic pain group: average pain intensity, interference, or distress score greater than 3 in the past week
- For acute pain group: pain lasting less than 3 months due to recent surgery, injury, acute illness, or childbirth
- For acute pain group: average pain intensity, interference, or distress score greater than 3 in the past week
- For healthy controls: average pain intensity, interference, and distress scores less than 3 in the past week
- For healthy controls: no recent surgery, injury, acute illness, or childbirth within past 3 months
- For sub-study EEG testing: diagnosis of fibromyalgia, chronic low back pain, or failed back surgery syndrome or no history of chronic pain
- For sub-study EEG testing: willingness to undergo EEG and ECG measures
- For sub-study: if planning certain back procedures, must have insurance approval
You will not qualify if you...
- For chronic pain group: recent injury or surgery unrelated to pain within past 3 months
- Difficulty participating due to technical or logistical issues
- Not fluent in English
- Current primary or metastatic cancer causing pain
- For acute pain group: history of chronic pain lasting more than 6 months
- For healthy controls: history of chronic pain lasting more than 6 months
- For sub-study EEG testing: baldness, pregnancy, dreadlocks, left-handedness, wheelchair use
- Heart failure diagnosis
- Current or past acute psychosis or mania
- Implanted pacemaker, neurostimulator, or other head or heart implants
- Requires hearing aid
- Claustrophobia
- Metal fragments in the body
AI-Screening
AI-Powered Screening
Complete this quick 3-step screening to check your eligibility
1
2
3
Your Study Journey
Screening
Duration - 2 to 4 weeks
Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial.
1 visit (in-person)
Monitoring
Duration - 4 months
Participants use the SOMA smartphone application daily to track mood, pain symptoms, and overall activity, allowing researchers to study the dynamics of pain and mood over time.
Daily app use
Long-term Monitoring
Duration - 8 months
Participants continue to be observed for pain, mood, and activity dynamics through periodic assessments and app use to evaluate changes up to one year.
Periodic assessments at 4, 8, and 12 months
Trial Site Locations
Total: 1 location
1
Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island, United States, 02912
Actively Recruiting
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Research Team
F
Frederike H Petzschner, PhD
C
Chloe S Zimmerman, MD/PhD student
How is the study designed?
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Masking
N/A
Allocation
N/A
Model
N/A
Primary Purpose
N/A
Number of Arms
3
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Published Research Related To This Trial
Predicting transition to chronic pain.
A Vania Apkarian, Marwan N Baliki, Melissa A Farmer
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23823463Corticostriatal functional connectivity predicts transition to chronic back pain.
Marwan N Baliki, Bogdan Petre, Souraya Torbey...
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22751038Shape shifting pain: chronification of back pain shifts brain representation from nociceptive to emotional circuits.
Javeria A Hashmi, Marwan N Baliki, Lejian Huang...
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23983029A systematic review of psychological factors as predictors of chronicity/disability in prospective cohorts of low back pain.
Tamar Pincus, A Kim Burton, Steve Vogel...
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11880847