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Mindfulness and Chronic Low Back Pain

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Chronic Low Back Pain
Registration Number
NCT03354585
Lead Sponsor
University of California, San Diego
Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to see if mindfulness, a form of mental training, or listening to a book alters brain activation in response to raising your leg that may produce the feeling of pain. A technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) allows scientists to determine which parts of the brain are active during a particular task. This study will provide new information about how mindfulness affects the brain.

Detailed Description

To determine if mindfulness meditation-induced reductions in chronic low back pain (cLBP) patients will be associated with greater anterior insula (aINS), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC), and/or thalamic deactivation when compared to rest, the sham-mindfulness meditation and the book-listening control groups. One-hundred and twenty individuals will be randomized to a mindfulness meditation (n=40), non-mindfulness meditation (n=40) and book-listening-control (n=40). Each participants will be administered noxious heat and the chronic low back pain evoking, straight leg raise test during fMRI.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
120
Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Cerebral Blood Flow (average blood perfusion; mL blood/100 grams tissue/minute)There will be up to 2 fMRI sessions (Visit 2, and 9). Active enrollment provides up to 8 weeks to complete all study interventions, scans, and assessments.

Changes in cerebral blood flow will be assessed during pseudo continuous arterial spin labeling fMRI during their respective manipulations.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
PROMIS Pain Behavior MeasureThere will be up to 2 fMRI sessions (Visit 2, 9). Active enrollment provides up to 8 weeks to complete all study interventions, scans, and assessments.

This is a 5-item questionnaire that measures complaints of suffering, verbal or nonverbal (i.e. such as when I am in pain I squirm) from the past 7 days. Scoring for this measure is item-content dependent.

Respiration RateThere will be up to 2 fMRI sessions (Visit 2, 9). Active enrollment provides up to 8 weeks to complete all study interventions, scans, and assessments.

Respiration rate will be collected and recorded on a Biopac respiratory transducer. Changes in respiration rate could be predictive of analgesia and health promotion.

Visual Analog Scale Pain RatingsBaseline and 3 fMRI sessions (Visit 1, 2, 9, and 16). Active enrollment provides up to 8 weeks to complete all study interventions, scans, and assessments.

Changes in visual analog scale (VAS) pain ratings will be assessed in response to the straight leg raise test and lying supine in the MRI scanner.

Psychophysical Assessment of Pain: As previously in all of our previous pain studies, pain intensity and unpleasantness ratings will be assessed with a Visual Analog Scale. These scales 1) provide reliably separate assessment of experimental and clinical pain intensity and unpleasantness, 2) are internally consistent, and 3) approximate ratio scale measurement accuracy. The minimum rating ("0") is designated as "no pain" whereas the maximum ("10") is labeled as "most intense imaginable" or "most unpleasant imaginable".

Higher numbers correspond to higher perceived pain

Freiburg Mindfulness InventoryThere will be up to 2 fMRI sessions (Visit 2, 9). Active enrollment provides up to 8 weeks to complete all study interventions, scans, and assessments.

This is a 14-item standard mindfulness scale to measure potential changes in mindfulness before and after intervention. A rating between "rarely" (0) to "often" (4) is provided in response to each statement.

Numerical Pain RatingsTwo fMRI sessions. Active enrollment provides up to 8 weeks to complete all study interventions, scans, and assessments.

Changes in numerical pain ratings (NRS) will be assessed in response to the straight leg raise test and lying supine in the MRI scanner.

Psychophysical Assessment of Pain: As previously in all of our previous pain studies, pain intensity and unpleasantness ratings will be assessed with a Visual Analog Scale. These scales 1) provide reliably separate assessment of experimental and clinical pain intensity and unpleasantness, 2) are internally consistent, and 3) approximate ratio scale measurement accuracy. The minimum rating ("0") is designated as "no pain" whereas the maximum ("10") is labeled as "most intense imaginable" or "most unpleasant imaginable".

Higher numbers correspond to higher perceived pain

Blood Oxygen Dependent SignalingTwo fMRI sessions. Active enrollment provides up to 8 weeks to complete all study interventions, scans, and assessments.

Changes in BOLD fMRIacquired during noxious heat stimulation during rest and manipulations Psychophysical Assessment of Pain: As previously in all of our previous pain studies, pain intensity and unpleasantness ratings will be assessed with a Visual Analog Scale. These scales 1) provide reliably separate assessment of experimental and clinical pain intensity and unpleasantness, 2) are internally consistent, and 3) approximate ratio scale measurement accuracy. The minimum rating ("0") is designated as "no pain" whereas the maximum ("10") is labeled as "most intense imaginable" or "most unpleasant imaginable".

Higher numbers correspond to higher perceived pain

Pain Catastrophizing ScaleThere will be up to 2 fMRI sessions (Visit 2, 9). Active enrollment provides up to 8 weeks to complete all study interventions, scans, and assessments.

This is a 13-item questionnaire with 3 subscales assessing rumination, magnification, and helplessness in patients. A numeric value between 0 (not at all) and 4 (all the time) is provided in response to each statement. Scores on this assessment range from 0 to 52, with higher values reflecting more salient impacts of pain on one's day to day experience.

Five Facet Mindfulness QuestionnaireThere will be up to 2 fMRI sessions (Visit 2, 9). Active enrollment provides up to 8 weeks to complete all study interventions, scans, and assessments.

This is a 39-item multidimensional measure of trait mindfulness and includes five subscales: non-reactivity, nonjudgment, describing, observing, and acting with awareness. A numeric value between 1 (never or very rarely true) and 5 (very often or always true) is provided in response to each statement.

Brief Pain InventoryThere will be up to 2 fMRI sessions (Visit 2, 9). Active enrollment provides up to 8 weeks to complete all study interventions, scans, and assessments.

This is an 8-item assessment widely used to measure clinical pain. Higher scores reflect a higher severity rating of pain.

Beck Depression InventoryThere will be up to 2 fMRI sessions (Visit 2, 9). Active enrollment provides up to 8 weeks to complete all study interventions, scans, and assessments.

This is a 21-item standard assessment used to measure clinical depression. Scores on this assessment range from 0 to 63, where higher scores indicate higher levels of depression.

Roland-Morris Disability QuestionnaireThere will be up to 2 fMRI sessions (Visit 2, 9). Active enrollment provides up to 8 weeks to complete all study interventions, scans, and assessments.

This is a critical assessment for assessing the functional impact of chronic low back pain. Scores on this assessment range from 0 to 24, where higher scores indicate greater disability and limited functioning due to pain.

Cohen Perceived Stress ScaleThere will be up to 2 fMRI sessions (Visit 2, 9). Active enrollment provides up to 8 weeks to complete all study interventions, scans, and assessments.

The CPS is a series of 10 temporally constrained (i.e. in the last month) questions meant to ascertain the relative frequency of stressors in one's life, ranging from never (scored as 0) to very often (scored as 4). All positively stated questions are reversed scored and then all items are summed to yield a final estimate of stress. The higher the score the higher the level of stress.

Trial Locations

Locations (2)

UC San Diego

🇺🇸

La Jolla, California, United States

UC San Diego Center for Functional MRI

🇺🇸

La Jolla, California, United States

UC San Diego
🇺🇸La Jolla, California, United States
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