Using a smartphone app to track pain and mood changes

Is this trial a fit for you?

A plain-English reading of the study's rules. Only the study team can confirm whether you qualify.

What this trial studies

This observational study utilizes the SOMA smartphone application to monitor daily mood, pain levels, and activity in individuals experiencing acute or chronic pain, as well as healthy controls, over a four-month period. The primary aim is to analyze fluctuations in self-reported symptoms to identify predictors for the transition from acute to chronic pain, pain recovery, and chronic pain maintenance. Participants will include those with chronic pain conditions, and a subset will undergo EEG testing to gather additional data on pain dynamics. The study seeks to understand how emotional states and life events influence pain experiences.

Why it matters

Who can join: the full rules

INCLUSION CRITERIA \[General study\]

* Chronic pain group:

  * Age above 18
  * Access to a personal smartphone and a stable internet connection
  * Average pain intensity score of greater than 3 in the past week or
  * Average pain interference score of greater than 3 in the past week or
  * Average pain distress score of greater than 3 in the past week
  * Pain duration: greater than 6 months
* Acute pain group:

  * Age above 18
  * Access to a personal smartphone and a stable internet connection
  * Average pain intensity score of greater than 3 in the past week

    ○ or
  * Average pain interference score of greater than 3 in the past week

    ○ or
  * Average pain distress score of greater than 3 in the past week
  * Pain duration: less than 3 months
  * Pain cause: Due to recent surgery, injury, acute illness, or childbirth (within the past 3 months)
* Healthy control group:

  * Age above 18
  * Access to a personal smartphone and a stable internet connection
  * Average pain intensity score of less than 3 in the past week
  * Average pain interference score of less than 3 in the past week
  * Average pain distress score of less than 3 in the past week
  * No surgery, injury, acute illness, or childbirth (within the past 3 months)
* In person EEG testing \[Sub-Study only\]:

  * Same as in General App Study Above and additionally:
  * Current diagnosis of Fibromyalgia, Chronic Low Back Pain or Failed Back Surgery Syndrome OR
  * No current or prior history of chronic pain
  * If participant has chronic low back pain or failed back surgery syndrome: are they planning to have either a radio-frequency ablation, back surgery, or spinal cord stimulation implant in the next few months
  * If participant has chronic low back pain or failed back surgery syndrome: have they received insurance approval for the procedure?
  * Ok with EEC/ECG measures

EXCLUSION CRITERIA \[General study\]

* Chronic pain group:

  * recent injury or surgery unrelated to the pain in the past 3 months
  * difficulty participating for technical/logistical issues (e.g., no computer, incompatible smartphone, can't commit to 4 months study participation);
  * Not fluent in English (difficulty understanding questions)
  * Current primary or metastatic cancer (organic cause of pain)
* Acute pain group:

  * History of Chronic Pain (Pain lasting for more than 6 months)
  * difficulty participating for technical/logistical issues (e.g., no computer, incompatible smartphone, can't commit to 4 months study participation);
  * Not fluent in English (difficulty understanding questions)
  * Current primary or metastatic cancer (organic cause of pain)
* Healthy control group:

History of Chronic Pain (Pain lasting for more than 6 months)

* difficulty participating for technical/logistical issues (e.g., no computer, incompatible smartphone, can't commit to 4 months study participation);
* Not fluent in English (difficulty understanding questions)

  -In person EEG testing \[Sub-study only\]: \[will interfere with EEG data collection safety or quality\]:
* Same as in General App Study Above and additionally:
* Baldness
* Pregnancy
* Dreadlocks
* Left-handedness
* Use of a wheelchair
* Heart failure diagnosis
* Current or prior experience with acute psychosis or mania
* implanted pacemaker, neurostimulator or any other head or heart implants
* require a hearing aid to hear properly
* claustrophobia
* metal fragments in the body

Where it's running

• Brown University
  Providence, Rhode Island, United States Recruiting

Study contacts

• Principal investigator: Frederike H Petzschner, PhD — Brown University
• Study coordinator: Frederike H Petzschner, PhD
• Email: frederike_petzschner@brown.edu
• Phone: 401-863-6272

Similar studies

Other studies for the same condition or treatment. Recruiting studies are listed first.

• Cryoneurolysis for Chronic Pain: 6- and 12-Month Outcomes in Routine Care

  This study tests whether cryoneurolysis, done as part of standard care for people with chronic pain, leads to meaningful improvements over 6 to 12 months.

  Recruiting Yale University · Old Saybrook, Connecticut · NCT07639060

• Shiatsu therapy for long-lasting non-inflammatory pain in children and teens

  This study will try weekly 30-minute Shiatsu sessions alongside regular care to see if they improve quality of life for children and adolescents (ages 10–18) with non-inflammatory chronic pain.

  Recruiting Tel Aviv University · Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv and 1 other locations · NCT06929598

• High-frequency spinal cord stimulation for leg pain from diabetic neuropathy and peripheral artery disease

  This study will test whether high-frequency spinal cord stimulation can reduce walking-related leg pain in people with painful diabetic neuropathy and peripheral arterial disease who responded to a temporary SCS trial.

  Recruiting University of Nebraska · Omaha, Nebraska · NCT06480786

• Chromatic Retinal Stimulation to Help With Chronic Pain

  This study tests whether different color light delivered to the retina can reduce pain and pain sensitivity in adults with fibromyalgia or chronic low back pain.

  Recruiting University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Chapel Hill, North Carolina · NCT05956067

• Exploring the Benefits of Natural Medicine and Vitamin IV Therapy

  This study is testing whether herbal medicine and vitamin IV therapy can help improve health and manage chronic conditions like anxiety, fibromyalgia, and arthritis.

  Recruiting The Essence of Integrative Health and Medicine Practice · Dover, Delaware · NCT05067998

• Virtual Reality-Based Hypnotherapy to Help Pain, Sleep, and Mood in Spinal Cord Injury

  Adults with spinal cord injury will try adding short VR-based hypnotherapy sessions to their standard physiotherapy to see if it reduces pain and improves sleep and mood.

  Recruiting Istanbul Physical Medicine Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital · Istanbul, Istanbul · NCT07846410

How to take part

1. Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
2. Check the official listing on ClinicalTrials.gov for the latest contact details and recruitment status.
3. Contact the study coordinator or principal investigator to ask for pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.