Trial reportArthritis research & therapy2019
Testing the effects of gentle vibrotactile stimulation on symptom relief in fibromyalgia.
Trial report in Arthritis research & therapy, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03227952 (Study of the Effectiveness of Vibrotactile Sensory Stimulation in Fibromyalgia Patients), which is not on this map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Study of the Effectiveness of Vibrotactile Sensory Stimulation in Fibromyalgia Patients
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for the management of sleep problems in people with fibromyalgia: a multi-methods evidence synthesis.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of low-magnitude, variable-frequency vibration therapy on pain threshold levels and mobility in adults with moderate knee osteoarthritis-randomized controlled trial.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2023Trial
- Cortical spectral dynamics of vibrotactile frequency processing.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Decreased anxiety through haptic technology patch usage: A case-control comparison.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2025Article
- Laryngeal Vibrotactile Stimulation Is Feasible, Acceptable To People With Unexplained Chronic Cough.The Laryngoscope · 2024Article
- A novel theta-controlled vibrotactile brain-computer interface to treat chronic pain: a pilot study.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Exploring the psychopathological profile of fibromyalgia: insights from the personality assessment inventory and its association with disease impact.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Distinctive alterations in the functional anatomy of the cerebral cortex in pain-sensitized osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia patients.Arthritis research & therapy · 2022Article
- Is Irritable Bowel Syndrome Considered as Comorbidity in Clinical Trials of Physical Therapy Interventions in Fibromyalgia? A Scoping Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Non-pharmacological treatments for chronic orchialgia: A systemic review.Arab journal of urology · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSensory disturbances in fibromyalgia extend beyond nociception. It has been proposed that imbalance in the mutual competition between painful input and non-painful sensory activity may, to a significant extent, account for the augmented subjective perception of pain. In this context, non-nociceptive somatosensory stimulation could arguably attenuate fibromyalgia symptoms by restoring the sensory balance. We specifically tested the effect of vibrotactile stimulation on symptom relief in fibromyalgia patients with a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, crossover clinical trial.
methodsSeventy-seven female patients were randomized and data from 63 valid cases were analyzed. Active intervention involved extensive body stimulation with gentle mechanical vibrations administered during 3 h at night for 3 weeks, and the placebo effect was controlled using identical instruments to simulate an alternative treatment option. The primary outcome measure combined pain, fatigue, and complaints of poor cognition.
resultsVibrotactile stimulation was significantly superior to sham in alleviating fibromyalgia symptoms globally. However, univariate analyses showed that the effect was not universal. Benefits were perceived on unpleasant somatic sensations such as generalized pain and fatigue, but not on poor cognition, anxiety, and depression. Vibrotactile stimulation was notably well tolerated and sleep quality significantly improved despite the fact that vibrations were administered at night.
conclusionsResults thus provide new evidence that non-nociceptive somatosensory stimulation may favorably act upon altered somatosensory balance in fibromyalgia. From a clinical perspective, both the degree of improvement and the easy application of our proposal would seem to support a potential role for vibrotactile stimulation in the symptomatic treatment of fibromyalgia.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov registration number NCT03227952 . Registered 24 July, 2017.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.