Exploring the Acute and Dynamic Relationships Between Movement and Pain in Older Adults With Musculoskeletal Pain

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Older People; Pain

• Registration Number: NCT06886906
• Lead Sponsor: Indiana University

Brief Summary

The purpose of this research study is to evaluate the effect of brief bouts of intermittent walking on bodily pain, pain during movement, and how the body adapts to musculoskeletal pain in older adults.

Detailed Description

The purpose of this study is to determine whether exposure to acute sitting compared to sitting interrupted with brief bouts of light intensity walking exerts short term effects on resting pain, endogenous pain modulation measured via quantitative sensory testing (QST), and movement-evoked pain (MEP) in older adults. Participants will be asked to complete two study sessions, with the first study session lasting 3 hours and the second study session lasting 2.5 hours. All sessions will take place in the National Institute of Sport Fitness, where the Physical Activity and Pain laboratory is located. The first session will include the following procedures in the following order: informed consent process, healthy history for screening purposes, quantitative sensory testing (QST), 6-minute walk test, completion of questionnaires, QST, experimental conditions of either 1 hour of sitting or 1 hour of sitting with bouts of light intensity walking, QST, and the 30-second chair stand test. Session 2 will take place at least 7 days after session 1 and will be identical except for the informed consent and screening will be replaced by questionnaires and the experimental condition will consist of the one not performed in session 1. Participants will be asked to take their medications at the same time prior to each study visit and we will assess medications taken the day of each visit prior to the visit.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2024-11-13
• Status Verified: 2025-03
• Study First Submitted: 2025-03-14
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-03-14
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-03-14
• Study First Posted: 2025-03-20
• Last Update Posted: 2025-03-20
• Primary Completion: 2026-08-01
• Study Completion: 2026-08-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 40

Inclusion Criteria

• Community-dwelling men and women
• Answer yes to the following question: Have you experienced any musculoskeletal pain (pain affecting joints, bones, ligaments, tendons or muscles) in the past month?

Exclusion Criteria

• Cardiovascular issues such as uncontrolled blood pressure over 150/99 mmHg, heart failure, or history of acute myocardial infarction;
• Angina in the last month (squeezing, pressure, heaviness, tightness, or pain in chest)
• Serious systemic disease or condition (e.g., severe osteoarthritis, injury) that restricts normal daily activities
• Neurological disease (e.g., Parkinson's Disease, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy)
• Serious psychiatric conditions (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder) or hospitalization within the preceding year for psychiatric illness
• Known peripheral neuropathy
• Chronic opioid use (defined as ≥ 90 days)
• Unable to walk for 6 minutes without assistive devices

Session exclusion criteria:

• Participants will be asked to not participate in vigorous or unaccustomed exercise 48 hours prior to each study session.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: CROSSOVER

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Mechanical Temporal Summation of Pain (TS)	Pre and post the 1-hour experimental conditions	TS will be administered on the back of the left hand. First, a single pinprick stimulus using a von Frey filament of 6.65 Mn or 300 g will be applied to the body site. Participants will rate the perceived pain intensity using a numeric rating scale of 0 (no pain at all) to 100 (worst pain imaginable). Then, a series of 10 pinprick stimuli (6.65 Mn) will be administered at a rate of 1 Hz, applied to the body site within an area of 1 cm2. The temporal summation value will be calculated as the difference between the first and last stimuli.
Conditioned Pain Modulation	Pre and post the 1-hour experimental conditions	CPM will be assessed by determining the ability of a cold water bath (conditioning stimulus) to diminish pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) and temporal summation (TS) (test stimuli) applied at a separate body site. For the CPM trials, PPTs and TS will be measured pre and post a conditioning stimulus. Conditioning stimulus: At least 4 minutes will separate the pre pain assessments (i.e., PPT, TS) and the initiation of the conditioning stimulation, during which subjects will sit quietly. Then, participants will immerse their right hand up to the wrist in a cold water bath maintained at 10oC for up to 1 minute or until they report intolerable pain. The dependent variable for the CPM test will be the change in the test stimuli (PPT and TS) following the conditioning stimulus.
Movement-evoked pain during the 30-second chair stand test	Will be administered immediately after the 1-hour experimental conditions.	This test will be administered using a folding chair without arms, placed against a wall to prevent it from moving during the test. The test begins with the subject seated in the middle of the chair, feet at an angle slightly back from the knees, with one foot slightly in front of the other to help maintain balance when standing. Arms will be crossed at the wrists and held against the chest. At the signal of "go", subjects will rise to a full stand and then return back to the initial position. The subjects will be encouraged to complete as many full stands as possible within a 30-s time limit. Participants will rate their current bodily pain on a 0 to 10 numeric rating scale (NRS), with 0 indicating "No pain" and 10 indicating "Pain as bad as you can imagine". Participants will rate their bodily pain before, during, and after the chair stand test as a measure of movement evoked pain.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

250 University Blvd; 🇺🇸 Indianapolis, Indiana, United States