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Generalization of placebo and nocebo effects across pain modalities and from pain to itch.

Conditions
Healthy participants
Registration Number
NL-OMON28928
Lead Sponsor
eiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
Brief Summary

ot yet

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
Other
Sex
Not specified
Target Recruitment
82
Inclusion Criteria

1. Healthy participants between 18 and 35 years old;
2. Fluent in the English language.

Exclusion Criteria

1.Refusal to give written informed consent
2.Severe morbidity (e.g., multiple sclerosis, heart or lung disease, chronic itch or pain complaints)
3.DSM-IV psychiatric disorders (e.g., depression, autism)
4.Regular use of recreational drugs
5.Current use of medication
6.Pregnancy or lactation

Study & Design

Study Type
Interventional
Study Design
Not specified
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Generalization of placebo and nocebo effects to pressure pain. Following the heat pain conditioning and test, participants will receive 6 medium pressure pain stimuli; 3 stimuli with ENS ‘ON’ and 3 with ENS ‘OFF’. After each stimulus, participants will be asked to rate their pain intensity by using a 0-10 numerical rating scale. Our primary outcome is the comparison of the difference in average pressure pain between ENS ‘ON’ and ‘OFF’ in placebo and nocebo groups, respectively. Additionally, maximum pressure pain ratings between ENS ‘ON’ and ‘OFF’ in these groups will also be compared.
Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Generalization of placebo and nocebo effects to cowhage-evoked itch. Following the heat pain conditioning, participants will receive cowhage twice, once with ENS ‘ON’ and once with ENS ‘OFF’. As soon as participants feel itch for the first time, they will be asked to rate their itch intensity by using a 0-10 numerical rating scale every 10 seconds for 3 minutes. Our primary outcome is the comparison of the difference in average itch ratings between ENS ‘ON’ and ‘OFF’ in placebo and nocebo groups. Additionally, maximum itch ratings between ENS ‘ON’ and ‘OFF’ in these groups will also be compared.<br>Psychological factors: the individual characteristics (e.g.,, anxiety) will be used to investigate possible moderators of placebo and nocebo effects within and across modalities.
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