Pain Reprocessing Therapy for Chronic Widespread Pain: a SCED Study

Launched by OSLO UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL · Jun 25, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying a new type of therapy called Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) to help people who have Chronic Widespread Pain (CWP), a condition where pain is felt in many parts of the body for a long time. This kind of pain is often hard to treat and can make daily life difficult. PRT uses a combination of psychological techniques to help the brain “reprocess” pain signals, aiming to reduce pain and improve well-being. While PRT has shown promise for chronic back pain, this study is one of the first to see if it works for widespread pain conditions like fibromyalgia.

People eligible to join this study are adults between 18 and 65 years old who have had widespread pain lasting at least three months, with a pain level of 4 or higher on a 10-point scale. Participants must live in Norway, speak Norwegian, and have access to a smartphone to use an app during the study. The study will ask participants to track their pain, mood, sleep, and medication use several times a day using the app, both before and during the therapy. The study team will also evaluate changes in pain and other health aspects before and after the therapy. This trial is currently recruiting and offers a chance for people with chronic widespread pain to try a promising new approach designed specifically for their type of pain.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Age 18-65 (inclusive)
• • Qualifying for Chronic Widespread Pain (CWP), as described in ICD-11 (an existing diagnosis of fibromyalgia qualifies for CWP)
• • Baseline pain with an average intensity of at least 4/10 that has lasted for 3 months or longer
• • If on medication that could potentially interfere with study participation or outcomes as evaluated by the study physician, stable doses of medication for 6 weeks prior to entering the study and during participation
• • Living in Norway
• • Fluent in Norwegian
• • Normal or corrected-to-normal vision
• • Access to smartphone or equivalent for use of app during study
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Current comorbid acute pain condition (pain from acute illness, injury, infection, or similar in the past 3 weeks)
• • Beck Depression Index (BDI) score more than 30
• • Clinical high risk for suicidality (BDI short form item 7 on suicidality rated ≥ 2, or modaterate/high scores for suicidality in M.I.N.I. interview)
• • Current psychological therapy for pain or mental health purposes
• • Any current or past diagnosis and/or significant symptoms of psychosis-related disorders (schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder), bipolar disorder, autism spectrum disorder, personality disorder
• • Current diagnosis and/or significant symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), eating disorder, substance use disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• • Currently participating in other therapeutic trials
• • Currently in a legal process regarding disability benefits.
• • Currently pregnant
• • Started an antidepressant or changed dose in the past 6 weeks
• • Inability to reliably complete tasks related to the study
• • Any impairment, activity or situation that in the judgement of the Study Coordinator or Principal Investigator would prevent satisfactory completion of the study protocol. This includes unreliable, or inconsistent pain scores as deemed by the principal investigator.