Mechanisms of Affective Touch in Chronic Pain (MATCP)

Laura Case

Status: Completed

Conditions: Fibromyalgia

Treatments: Behavioral: affective touch

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT04206397

191669

4R00AT009466-02 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study compares how different types of touch found in massage therapies impact pain perception, and whether these effects differ in individuals with and without chronic pain. This study also examines psychological factors that may predict differences in touch perception in individuals with chronic pain. This research will improve our understanding of whether and how massage therapies can benefit pain and health, and whether this differs in people who suffer from chronic pain.

Enrollment: 80 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. ages 18-65
2. fluent in English
3. physician diagnosis of Fibromyalgia but no other chronic pain conditions (patients) or no evidence of chronic pain (healthy volunteers)

Exclusion criteria

1. Sensory, motor, or anatomic differences or injuries relevant to study procedures
2. Known anomalies of the central nervous system (including stroke, dementia, aneurysm, or personal history of psychosis)
3. Pregnancy
4. Inability to rate pain or sensations
5. Major medical conditions such as kidney, liver, cardiovascular (hypertension, preexisting cardiac arrhythmia), autonomic, pulmonary, or neurological problems (e.g., seizure disorder) or a chronic systemic disease (e.g., diabetes).
6. History of blood clots or first-degree family members with clotting disorders
7. Current use of opiate medication(s)
8. Contraindications to MRI if participating in pilot MRI study
9. Unable to identify a heat stimulus 50C or lower that generates a rating of a 7 on our VAS scale
10. History of fainting or seizures
11. History of frostbite
12. Open cut or sore on hand to be immersed in cold water bath
13. Fracture of limb to be immersed
14. History of Reynaud's phenomenon (hands get white, then blue on exposure to cold, then red on warming)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: Single Blind