Trial reportEuropean journal of pain (London, England)2021
Effectiveness of a structured group intervention based on pain neuroscience education for patients with fibromyalgia in primary care: A multicentre randomized open-label controlled trial.
Trial report in European journal of pain (London, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 3 of them syntheses 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of Educational and Behavioral Interventions on Medication-Overuse Headache: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Pain research & management · 2026Pooled it
- Are OMERACT recommendations followed in clinical trials on fibromyalgia? A systematic review of patient-reported outcomes and their measures.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Pain Neuroscience Education in Patients with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain and Central Sensitization: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Efficacy of the FIBROWALK Multicomponent Program Moved to a Virtual Setting for Patients with Fibromyalgia during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Proof-of-Concept RCT Performed Alongside the State of Alarm in Spain.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- Effectiveness of a structured group intervention based on pain neuroscience education for patients with fibromyalgia in primary care: A multicentre randomized open-label controlled trial.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2021Trial
- Research hotspots and emerging trends of pain neuroscience education in chronic pain management: A bibliometric visualization study.Medicine · 2026Article
- Acceptance of pain neuroscience education in chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions: qualitative systematic review.Pain reports · 2026Review
- Pain Catastrophizing: Mechanisms and Clinical Implications.Journal of pain research · 2026Review
- An Evaluation of the Design of Multimedia Patient Education Materials in Musculoskeletal Health Care: Systematic Review.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologies · 2024Review
- Effect of physical activity education on shoulder girdle pain and muscle strength in participants with fibromyalgia: a pilot experimental study.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2024Article
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere has been increased interest in pain neuroscience education (PNE) as a therapeutic approach for the management of fibromyalgia (FM).
methodsA multicentre randomized, open-label, controlled trial was conducted to assess the effectiveness of a structured group intervention based on PNE in patients with FM. A total of 139 patients were included in the study and randomized to the intervention group (7 group sessions of education in neurobiology of pain) or to the control group (treatment as usual only). The primary outcome was the improvement of functional status and pain measured with the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), and secondary outcomes were the reduction in the impact of pain and other symptoms (catastrophizing, anxiety and depression) and number of patients reaching no worse than moderate functional impairment (FIQ score <39). Differences between groups were calculated by linear mixed-effects (intention-to-treat approach) and mediational models through path analyses.
resultsAt 1 year, improvements in FIQ scores were higher in the intervention group with moderate or high effect size, and decreases of ≥20% in 69.1% of patients (20.9% in the control group) and of ≥50% in 39.7% (4.5% in the control group). Also, 52.9% of patients had a FIQ <39 points (13.4% in the control group).
conclusionsIn this sample of patients with FM, the improvement in quality of life and control of symptoms obtained by adding a PNE intervention showed promising results, equalling or surpassing previously reported outcomes. SIGNIFICANCE: A structured group intervention based on pain neuroscience education for 1 year in patients with fibromyalgia was associated with significant amelioration of the impact of the disease on scores of the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, the Health Assessment Questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Pain Catastrophizing Scale and the Polysymptomatic Distress Scale as compared with only treatment as usual. These findings are clinically relevant considering the challenges posed by fibromyalgia to clinicians and patients alike.
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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.