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Updated: Aug 1, 2025
Determining Pain Detection and Tolerance Thresholds Using an Integrated, Multi-Modal Pain Task Battery
Published on: April 14, 2016
An artificial intelligence-powered, patient-centric digital tool for self-management of chronic pain: a prospective,
Antje M Barreveld1, Maria L Rosén Klement2,3, Sophia Cheung4
1Department of Anesthesiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Newton, MA 02462, United States.
Objective:
To investigate how a behavioral health, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered, digital self-management tool affects the daily functions in adults with chronic back and neck pain.
Design:
Eligible subjects were enrolled in a 12-week prospective, multicenter, single-arm, open-label study and instructed to use the digital coach daily. Primary outcome was a change in Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information Systems (PROMIS) scores for pain interference. Secondary outcomes were changes in PROMIS physical function, anxiety, depression, pain intensity scores and pain catastrophizing scale (PCS) scores.
Methods:
Subjects logged daily activities, using PainDrainerTM, and data analyzed by the AI engine. Questionnaire and web-based data were collected at 6 and 12 weeks and compared to subjects' baseline.
Results:
Subjects completed the 6- (n = 41) and 12-week (n = 34) questionnaires. A statistically significant Minimal Important Difference (MID) for pain interference was demonstrated in 57.5% of the subjects. Similarly, MID for physical function was demonstrated in 72.5% of the subjects. A pre- to post-intervention improvement in depression score was also statistically significant, observed in 100% of subjects, as was the improvement in anxiety scores, evident in 81.3% of the subjects. PCS mean scores was also significantly decreased at 12 weeks.
Conclusion:
Chronic pain self-management, using an AI-powered, digital coach anchored in behavioral health principles significantly improved subjects' pain interference, physical function, depression, anxiety, and pain catastrophizing over the 12-week study period.
