SynthesisPain2022
Pragmatic trials of pain therapies: a systematic review of methods.
Synthesis in Pain, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 3 of them syntheses 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
26 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A systematic review of the methodological quality of randomised trials in IBD surgery.Colorectal disease : the official journal of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland · 2026Pooled it
- How Pragmatic Are Sarcopenia Intervention Studies? A Systematic Review.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- How initial perceptions of the effectiveness of mind and body complementary and integrative health therapies influence long-term adherence in a pragmatic trial.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2024Trial
- Cost-effectiveness of Transforaminal epidural steroid injections for patients with ACUTE sciatica: a randomized controlled trial.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Trial
- A methodological review of pragmatic designs in acute stroke trials.International journal of stroke : official journal of the International Stroke Society · 2026Review
- Review
- Letter to the Editor: Uncertainty and risk of misleading conclusions: an umbrella review of the quality of the evidence for ankle arthroscopy.Acta orthopaedica · 2025Article
- Pharmacological interventions for patients with chronic primary musculoskeletal pain: disparity between synthesized evidence and real-world clinical practice.Pain reports · 2025Article
- Lack of pragmatic attitude of self-labelled pragmatic trials on manual therapy: a methodological review.BMC medical research methodology · 2024Review
- Monitoring and reporting adverse events in pragmatic clinical trials testing nonpharmacological pain management interventions.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2024Article
- Fidelity to the acupuncture intervention protocol in the ACUpuncture In The EmergencY department for pain management (ACUITY) trial: Expanding the gold standard of STRICTA and CONSORT guidelines.Integrative medicine research · 2024Article
- Article
- SOMAScience: A Novel Platform for Multidimensional, Longitudinal Pain Assessment.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2024Article
- Telehealth delivery of physical therapist-led interventions for persons with chronic low back pain in underserved communities: lessons from pragmatic clinical trials.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Analysis of pain research literature through keyword Co-occurrence networks.PLOS digital health · 2023Article
- Analysis of the characteristics and the degree of pragmatism exhibited by pragmatic-labelled trials of antineoplastic treatments.BMC medical research methodology · 2023Review
- Pragmatic Comparative Effectiveness Trials and Learning Health Systems in Pain Medicine: Opportunities and Challenges.Anesthesiology clinics · 2023Review
- Intervention Fidelity in Pain Pragmatic Trials for Nonpharmacologic Pain Management: Nuanced Considerations for Determining PRECIS-2 Flexibility in Delivery and Adherence.The journal of pain · 2023Article
- A Clinically-Reasoned Approach to Manual Therapy in Sports Physical Therapy.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
abstractPragmatic randomised clinical trials aim to directly inform clinical or health policy decision making. Here, we systematically review methods and design of pragmatic trials of pain therapies to examine methods, identify common challenges, and areas for improvement. Seven databases were searched for pragmatic randomised controlled clinical trials that assessed pain treatment in a clinical population of adults reporting pain. All screening steps and data extractions were performed twice. Data were synthesised descriptively, and correlation analyses between prespecified trial features and PRECIS-2 (PRagmatic-Explanatory Continuum Indicator Summary 2) ratings and attrition were performed. Protocol registration: PROSPERO-ID CRD42020178954. Of 57 included trials, only 21% assessed pharmacological interventions, the remainder physical, surgical, psychological, or self-management pain therapies. Three-quarters of the trials were comparative effectiveness designs, often conducted in multiple centres (median: 5; Q1/3: 1, 9.25) and with a median sample size of 234 patients at randomization (Q1/3: 135.5; 363.5). Although most trials recruited patients with chronic pain, reporting of pain duration was poor and not well described. Reporting was comprehensive for most general items, while often deficient for specific pragmatic aspects. Average ratings for pragmatism were highest for treatment adherence flexibility and clinical relevance of outcome measures. They were lowest for patient recruitment methods and extent of follow-up measurements and appointments. Current practice in pragmatic trials of pain treatments can be improved in areas such as patient recruitment and reporting of methods, analysis, and interpretation of data. These improvements will facilitate translatability to other real-world settings-the purpose of pragmatic trials.
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.