Affective touch; reducing pain in Parkinson patients study 2

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Pending

Sex: Not specified

Target Recruitment: 34

Inclusion Criteria

In order to be eligible to participate in this study, a participant must meet
all of the following criteria:
- Age >=18
- Diagnosed with PD, confirmed by Het Diakonessenhuis department of neurology
or St. Antonius Hospital department of neurology
- Pain associated with PD (musculoskeletal, dystonic, akathisia) and pain
worsened by PD (i.e. (osteo)arthritis or other age-related pain conditions)
- Pain must be present for at least 3 months, with clear impact on
physical/psychological functioning, which must be assessed as at least moderate
in intensity (>=4 points on the BPI).

Exclusion Criteria

A potential participant who meets any of the following criteria will be
excluded from participation in this study:
- Incapability of giving informed consent. To assess whether participants are
able to give informed consent the token test will be used. The token test is
used to assess language comprehension, if participants score below the cut-off
score this may point to language comprehension problems which could alter their
decision making and ability to provide informed consent, in which case
participants are excluded from participation.
- Incapability of interpreting questionnaires, the token test will also be used
to assess the capability of interpreting the questionnaires.
- Suffering from conditions that affect the ability to feel or process touch
- Pain conditions that can also influence the perception and processing of
touch; i.e. neuropathic pain, however if neuropathic pain does not alter the
touch perception (allodynia) participant can still participate
- A history of cerebral traumata or psychiatric disorders unrelated to PD
(e.g., schizophrenic episodes)

Study & Design

Study Type: Interventional

Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<p>The most important parameters are the changes in pain perception between the<br /><br>two types of stimulation measured with the questionnaires. We will do this by<br /><br>comparing the scores on the BPI for the AT condition and the non-AT touch<br /><br>condition. </p><br>

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<p>Secondary outcomes are the differences in cognitive functioning and emotional<br /><br>well-being. We will do this by comparing the scores on the neuropsychological<br /><br>assessment pain and pleasantness questionnaires (SDMT, TMT, Rey Auditory verbal<br /><br>learning test, D-KEFS Color Word Interference Test, VAT, Digit Span Backward<br /><br>subtest van de WAIS-IV, Word Fluency, GDS-15, SCL-90 en 15D HRQoL<br /><br>Questionnaire, SHAPS) for the different types of stimulation and before and<br /><br>after treatment.<br /><br><br /><br>In addition, we will look further into pain experience over the 3 weeks. This<br /><br>will be done by comparing the average BPI score per participant before, during<br /><br>(2x) and after treatment (total of 4 measurements).</p><br>