ArticleBritish journal of pain2020
Acceptability and usability of smartphone-based brainwave entrainment technology used by individuals with chronic pain in a home setting.
Article in British journal of pain, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Use of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures and Patient-Reported Experience Measures Within Evaluation Studies of Telemedicine Applications: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Pooled it
- Audio-Visual Entrainment Neuromodulation: A Review of Technical and Functional Aspects.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Shared neural signatures in Functional Neurological Disorder and Chronic Pain: a multimodal narrative review.BMJ neurology open · 2025Article
- The efficacy of sensory neural entrainment on acute and chronic pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis.British journal of pain · 2023Article
- A feasibility study of pre-sleep audio and visual alpha brain entrainment for people with chronic pain and sleep disturbance.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Self-regulation training for people with knee osteoarthritis: a protocol for a feasibility randomised control trial (MiNT trial).Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Brainwave entrainment for the treatment of chronic pain: comment onBritish journal of pain · 2021Article
- Entraining Alpha Activity Using Visual Stimulation in Patients With Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: A Feasibility Study.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBrainwave entrainment (BWE) using rhythmic visual or auditory stimulation has many potential clinical applications, including the management of chronic pain, where there is a pressing need for novel, safe and effective treatments. The aim of this study was to gain qualitative feedback on the acceptability and usability of a novel BWE smartphone application, to ensure it meets the needs and wishes of end users.
methodsFifteen participants with chronic pain used the application at home for 4 weeks. Semi-structured telephone interviews were then carried out. A template analysis approach was used to interpret the findings, with an initial coding template structured around the constructs of a theoretical framework for assessing acceptability of healthcare interventions. Structured data analysis generated a final modified coding structure, capturing themes generated across participants' accounts.
resultsThe four main themes were 'approach to trying out the app: affective attitude and ethicality', 'perceived effectiveness', 'opportunity costs and burden' and 'intervention coherence and self-efficacy'. All participants were willing to engage with the technology and welcomed it as an alternative approach to medications. Participants appreciated the simplicity of design and the ability to choose between visual or auditory stimulation. All the participants felt confident in using the application.
conclusionThe findings demonstrate preliminary support for the acceptability and usability of the BWE application. This is the first qualitative study of BWE to systematically assess these issues.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.