NCT05996991

Brief Summary

The objective of this study will be to identify the short-term impact of positive, neutral, or negative speech on pain intensity (primary outcome). The secondary outcomes assessed will be the global perceived effect of improvement, patient's expectations regarding spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) intervention, and perception of empathy in the therapeutic encounter in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP). This study will enroll 60 participants with CLBP aged between 18 and 60 years. This is an exploratory randomized clinical trial. The three groups will receive a manual therapy session after watching the video proposed for their group. First participants will be assessed for pain intensity, low back pain disability, psychosocial aspects, and expectations related to treatment. Secondly, a researcher not involved in the recruitment of patients will randomly allocate the participants into three different groups (G1- group submitted to positive expectation, G2- group submitted to neutral expectation, and G3- group submitted to negative expectation). After the allocation, the participants will watch a short video (no more than 3 minutes) delivering positive, negative, or neutral messages regarding SMT. And finally, a physiotherapist will administer one session of SMT and participants will be re-assessed to investigate the immediate effect of the videos on the pain intensity, global perceived effect of improvement, and expectations. Ultimately, patients will be submitted to a semi-structured interview in which their perceptions about the videos will be investigated. Outcomes will be assessed just immediately after one SMT session.

Trial Health

43
At Risk

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Trial has exceeded expected completion date
Enrollment
60

participants targeted

Target at P25-P50 for not_applicable

Timeline
Completed

Started Oct 2023

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
unknown

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

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Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

August 4, 2023

Completed
14 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

August 18, 2023

Completed
1 month until next milestone

Study Start

First participant enrolled

October 1, 2023

Completed
5 months until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

March 1, 2024

Completed
10 months until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

December 15, 2024

Completed
Last Updated

August 18, 2023

Status Verified

August 1, 2023

Enrollment Period

5 months

First QC Date

August 4, 2023

Last Update Submit

August 10, 2023

Conditions

Keywords

Placebo EffectChronic low-back PainSpinal Manipulative TherapyExpectationscontextual effect

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

  • Pain intensity

    The Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) will be used to assess pain intensity in this trial and consists in a sequence of numbers from zero to ten, in which zero represents "no pain" and 10 represents "worst pain imaginable"

    one-hour after the baseline assessment

Secondary Outcomes (4)

  • Global Perceived Effect (GPE) of Improvement

    one-hour after the baseline assessment

  • Low-back Pain (LBP) Expectation Scale

    one-hour after the baseline assessment

  • Treatment Expectations in Chronic Pain Scale (TEC)

    one-hour after the baseline assessment

  • Empathy - Care Scale

    one-hour after the baseline assessment

Study Arms (3)

G1 - Positive Expectation Group + Spinal Manipulative Therapy

EXPERIMENTAL

The participants of G1 will watch a short video (no more than 3 minutes) delivering a positive message regarding SMT. Secondly, a physiotherapist will administer one session of SMT and participants will be re-assessed to investigate the immediate effect of the videos on the pain intensity, global perceived effect of improvement, and expectations. Ultimately, patients will be submitted to a semi-structured interview in which their perceptions about the videos will be investigated.

Other: Positive expectation speech regarding spinal manipulative therapyProcedure: Spinal Manipulative Therapy

G2 - Neutral Expectation Group + Spinal Manipulative Therapy

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

The participants of G1 will watch a short video (no more than 3 minutes) delivering a neutral message regarding SMT. Secondly, a physiotherapist will administer one session of SMT and participants will be re-assessed to investigate the immediate effect of the videos on the pain intensity, global perceived effect of improvement, and expectations. Ultimately, patients will be submitted to a semi-structured interview in which their perceptions about the videos will be investigated.

Other: Neutral expectation speech regarding spinal manipulative therapyProcedure: Spinal Manipulative Therapy

G2 - Negative Expectation Group + Spinal Manipulative Therapy

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

The participants of G1 will watch a short video (no more than 3 minutes) delivering a negative message regarding SMT. Secondly, a physiotherapist will administer one session of SMT and participants will be re-assessed to investigate the immediate effect of the videos on the pain intensity, global perceived effect of improvement, and expectations. Ultimately, patients will be submitted to a semi-structured interview in which their perceptions about the videos will be investigated.

Other: Negative expectation speech regarding spinal manipulative therapyProcedure: Spinal Manipulative Therapy

Interventions

Patients will watch a short video with positive expectations regarding spinal manipulative therapy.

G1 - Positive Expectation Group + Spinal Manipulative Therapy

Patients will watch a short video with neutral expectations regarding spinal manipulative therapy.

G2 - Neutral Expectation Group + Spinal Manipulative Therapy

Patients will watch a short video with negative expectations regarding spinal manipulative therapy.

Also known as: Manual Therapy
G2 - Negative Expectation Group + Spinal Manipulative Therapy

One session of Spinal Manipulative Therapy. The researcher will administer a posterior and inferior push on the opposite anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) while passively rotating the subject on the side to be manipulated. The spinal manipulations will be repeated four times during a 5-minute period, with impulses oscillating between the right and left ASIS. In addition, we will administrate mobilizations (anterior-posterior central mobilization), applied for 1 minute in each lumbar vertebra (from L5 to L1), using grade I joint mobilization (patients positioned in the ventral decubitus position).

Also known as: Manual Therapy
G1 - Positive Expectation Group + Spinal Manipulative TherapyG2 - Negative Expectation Group + Spinal Manipulative TherapyG2 - Neutral Expectation Group + Spinal Manipulative Therapy

Eligibility Criteria

Age18 Years - 60 Years
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersNo
Age GroupsAdult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

  • Patients who report non-specific CLBP (in which the specific nociceptive source cannot be identified, confirmed by a medical assessment) for at least three months duration;
  • Age ranged from 18 years to 60 years
  • Baseline pain intensity score ≥3 on a Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) (because of the measurement error \> 2 reported for the NPRS);
  • Patients able to speak and understand Portuguese well to fill out the questionnaires.

You may not qualify if:

  • Previous poor experiences with SMT through the application of a brief screening questionnaire
  • Pregnancy
  • Specific low back pain disorders like radiculopathy or lumbar stenosis or chronic degenerative disorders, i.e., uncontrolled cardiovascular, metabolic, or systemic diseases, neurological or psychiatric diseases, and stroke sequelae
  • Undergoing other therapeutic interventions for chronic pain and low back pain (including surgeries) in the last 3 months
  • Presence of contraindications to SMT

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

Federal University of São Carlos - Department of Physical Therapy

São Carlos, São Paulo, 13.565-905, Brazil

Location

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Musculoskeletal Manipulations

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Complementary TherapiesTherapeuticsPhysical Therapy ModalitiesRehabilitation

Study Officials

  • Thais C Chaves, PHD

    Federal University of São Carlos - UFSCar

    STUDY CHAIR

Central Study Contacts

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Masking
QUADRUPLE
Who Masked
PARTICIPANT, CARE PROVIDER, INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
Purpose
TREATMENT
Intervention Model
PARALLEL
Model Details: Randomized Clinical Trial with three parallel arms
Sponsor Type
OTHER
Responsible Party
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
PI Title
Adjunct Professor

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

August 4, 2023

First Posted

August 18, 2023

Study Start

October 1, 2023

Primary Completion

March 1, 2024

Study Completion

December 15, 2024

Last Updated

August 18, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-08

Locations