Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34727128›Full record

Trial reportPloS one2021

Music and low-frequency vibrations for the treatment of chronic musculoskeletal pain in elderly: A pilot study.

Thom A H Eshuis, Peter J C Stuijt, Hans Timmerman, Peter Michael L Nielsen, André Paul Wolff, Remko Soer

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled TrialMulticenter Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 37% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Thom A H EshuisDepartment of Anaesthesiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, UMCG Pain Center, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Peter J C StuijtDepartment of Anaesthesiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, UMCG Pain Center, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Hans TimmermanDepartment of Anaesthesiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, UMCG Pain Center, Groningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-6082-9043
Peter Michael L NielsenDepartment of Neurology, Holbaek Hospital, Part of Copenhagen University Hospital, Sjaelland, Denmark.
André Paul WolffDepartment of Anaesthesiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, UMCG Pain Center, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Remko SoerDepartment of Anaesthesiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, UMCG Pain Center, Groningen, The Netherlands.
University Medical Center Groningen · NLCopenhagen University Hospital · DK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTranscutaneous vagal nerve stimulation has analgesic potential and might be elicited by abdominally administered low-frequency vibrations. The objective was to study the safety and effect of a combination of music and abdominally administered low-frequency vibrations on pain intensity in elderly patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain.

methodsThis trial was an international multicenter, randomized controlled pilot study. Patients at age ≥ 65 years with musculoskeletal pain for ≥ 3 months and a daily pain score ≥ 4 out of 10 were recruited at three centers. They were randomized to receive either a combination of music and low-frequency (20-100 Hz) vibrations administered to the abdomen, or a combination with the same music but with higher frequency (200-300 Hz) vibrations administered to the abdomen. Low-frequency vibrations were expected to result in pain reduction measured with a numeric pain rating scale (NRS). Patients in both groups received eight treatments of the music combined with the vibrations in three weeks. Primary outcomes were safety (Serious Adverse Events) and pain intensity measured at baseline, after the last treatment and at six weeks follow-up. Multilevel linear model analyses were performed to study group and time effects.

resultsA total of 45 patients were analyzed according to intention-to-treat principle. After 344 treatments, 1 Adverse Event was found related to the intervention, while 13 Adverse Events were possibly related. A multilevel linear model showed that the interaction effect of group by time did not predict pain intensity (F[1, 45.93] = 0.002, p = 0.97) when comparing pain intensity at baseline, after the last treatment and at follow-up.

conclusionsThe combination of music and abdominally administered vibrations was found to be safe and well tolerated by the elderly patients. However, over time, neither the low-frequency treatment group nor the high-frequency treatment group provided clinically meaningful pain relief. There is no evidence that the low-frequency treatment elicited vagal nerve stimulation.

trial registrationThe trial was prospectively registered in the Netherlands Trial Register (NTR: NL7606) on 21-03-2019.

Indexed as

Chronic PainMusculoskeletal PainMusic TherapyVibrationAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansMalePain MeasurementPilot ProjectsTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID34727128
PMCPMC8562790
OpenAlexW3211246305

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.