Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40555458›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2025

Preventing the transition from acute to chronic low back pain using home-based neuromodulation: protocol for a randomised, controlled study.

Ariane Y Suhood, Simon Summers, Tasha R Stanton, Daniel Thomson, James McAuley, Aidan Cashin, Luke C Jenkins, Ghufran Alhassani, Keeley R McNally, Amitabh Gupta and 1 more

Abstract readClinical Trial Protocol
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

11 authors.

Ariane Y SuhoodBrain Stimulation and Rehabilitation (BrainStAR) Lab, School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, New South Wales, Australia.
Simon SummersBrain Stimulation and Rehabilitation (BrainStAR) Lab, School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, New South Wales, Australia.
Tasha R StantonIIMPACT in Health, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7106-4456
Daniel ThomsonBrain Stimulation and Rehabilitation (BrainStAR) Lab, School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, New South Wales, Australia.
James McAuleyCentre for Pain IMPACT, Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.
Aidan CashinCentre for Pain IMPACT, Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4190-7912
Luke C JenkinsBrain Stimulation and Rehabilitation (BrainStAR) Lab, School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, New South Wales, Australia.
Ghufran AlhassaniBrain Stimulation and Rehabilitation (BrainStAR) Lab, School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, New South Wales, Australia.
Keeley R McNallyBrain Stimulation and Rehabilitation (BrainStAR) Lab, School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, New South Wales, Australia.
Amitabh GuptaSchool of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, New South Wales, Australia.
Rocco CavaleriBrain Stimulation and Rehabilitation (BrainStAR) Lab, School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, New South Wales, Australia r.cavaleri@westernsydney.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9499-1703

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionChronic low back pain (LBP) is among the world's leading causes of disability and declines in quality of life. Despite considerable financial and research investment, current interventions demonstrate only modest success or are associated with deleterious side effects. Furthermore, most treatment efforts are directed towards LBP that has already become chronic, rather than interventions capable of preventing pain chronicity in the first instance. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a portable and cost-effective form of non-invasive brain stimulation, presents a potential means of targeting acute pain and preventing the transition to chronic pain. However, this approach has been limited primarily to experimental settings that require intensive appointments and specialist expertise. Thus, this assessor-blinded, participant-blinded, and therapist-blinded, randomised controlled trial aims to explore the effectiveness of home-based tDCS for improving pain and disability in people with acute LBP. This may provide insight into the potential for tDCS to expedite recovery from acute LBP and prevent pain chronicity. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: 40 individuals with acute LBP (onset <8 weeks prior to enrolment) will be recruited and randomly allocated to a 2-week treatment protocol of either active or sham home-based tDCS. Participants will attend five laboratory sessions (pre-intervention baseline; at intervention completion; 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks post-completion of intervention) where measures of pain processing and disability will be collected. Mechanistic factors (potential mediators) of treatment effectiveness, including corticomotor organisation (transcranial magnetic stimulation mapping), somatosensory function, electroencephalography and affective-emotional characteristics, will also be assessed. Daily online questionnaires will be completed by participants during the intervention period to assess pain intensity and to monitor safety, treatment adherence and tolerability. The efficacy of tDCS in improving pain and disability in people with acute LBP will be investigated by analysing within-group and between-group changes in these outcomes over time. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval has been granted by the Western Sydney University Human Research Ethics Committee (H16334). Findings will be disseminated through scientific conferences and peer-reviewed journal publication.

Indexed as

Acute PainChronic PainLow Back PainTranscranial Direct Current StimulationAdultFemaleHumansMalePain MeasurementQuality of LifeRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicTreatment OutcomeBack painElectric Stimulation TherapyMusculoskeletal disordersPAIN MANAGEMENT

Identifiers

PMID40555458
PMCPMC12198847

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.