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Updated: Sep 3, 2025
Determining Pain Detection and Tolerance Thresholds Using an Integrated, Multi-Modal Pain Task Battery
Published on: April 14, 2016
App-based intervention among adolescents with persistent pain: a pilot feasibility randomized controlled trial
Erik Grasaas1, Sølvi Helseth2,3, Liv Fegran2
1Department of Health and Nursing Science, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway. erik.grasaas@uia.no.
Background:
Persistent pain in adolescence adversely affects everyday life and is an important public health problem. The primary aim was to determine the feasibility of an 8-week app-based self-management intervention to reduce pain and improve health-related quality of life in a community-based population of adolescents with persistent pain. A secondary aim was to explore differences in health outcomes between the intervention and control groups.
Methods:
A sample of 73 adolescents aged 16-19 years with persistent pain from a community-based population were randomized into 2 groups. The intervention group received the Norwegian culturally adapted version of the iCanCope with PainTM app, which includes symptom tracking, goal setting, self-management strategies, and social support. The attention control group received a symptom tracking app. Feasibility was assessed as attrition rates and level of engagement (interactions with the app). The secondary outcomes included pain intensity, health-related quality of life, self-efficacy, pain self-efficacy, perceived social support from friends, anxiety and depression, and patient global impression. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS.
Results:
Demographic and baseline outcome variables did not differ between the 2 groups. No differences were found between the participants completing the study and those who withdrew. Twenty-eight adolescents completed the intervention as planned (62% attrition). Both groups had a low level of app engagement. Intention-to-treat analysis (n = 19 + 14) showed no significant differences in outcomes between groups. However, the large effect size (Cohen's d = .9) for depression suggested a lower depression score in the intervention group.
Conclusions:
High treatment attrition and low engagement indicate the need for changes in trial design in a full-scale randomized controlled trial to improve participant retention.
Trial Registration:
The iCanCope with Pain Norway trial was retrospectively registered in Clinical Trials.gov (ID: NCT03551977 ). Registered 6 June 2018.
