Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40839690›Full record

Trial reportPain2025

Moderators of digital cognitive-behavioral therapy for youth with sickle cell disease pain: secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

Tonya M Palermo, Kavin Srinakarin, Chuan Zhou, Chitra Lalloo, Carlton Dampier, William T Zempsky, Sherif M Badawy, Nitya Bakshi, Yeon Joo Ko, Fareha Nishat and 1 more

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Pain, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–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

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
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.

Tonya M PalermoDepartment of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States.ORCID 0000-0001-6036-6715
Kavin SrinakarinCenter for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, United States.
Chuan ZhouCenter for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, United States.
Chitra LallooChild Health Evaluative Sciences Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Carlton DampierDivision of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/Blood and Marrow Transplant, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States.
William T ZempskyDivision of Pain and Palliative Medicine, Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Hartford, CT, United States.
Sherif M BadawyDivision of Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplant, Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States.
Nitya BakshiSection of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States.
Yeon Joo KoCenter for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, United States.
Fareha NishatChild Health Evaluative Sciences Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Jennifer N StinsonChild Health Evaluative Sciences Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Funding

iCanCope with Sickle Cell DiseaseR01HD086978 · NICHD · SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL · PI DAMPIER, CARLTON, PALERMO, TONYA M · 2016 to 2020
$2.4M
An mHealth Strategy to Improve Medication Adherence in Adolescents with Sickle Cell DiseaseK23HL150232 · NHLBI · LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO · PI BADAWY, SHERIF MOHAMED · 2020 to 2024
$842k
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development R01HD086978NHLBI NIH HHS K23 HL150232NHLBI NIH HHS K23HL150232NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD086978
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

abstractPain is the hallmark symptom of sickle cell disease (SCD). By adolescence, 20% of youth with SCD develop chronic SCD pain. Our randomized controlled trial found significant reductions in pain in youth receiving digital cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) vs education control. However, little is known about factors that moderate the effects of CBT in adolescents with SCD. This secondary data analysis aims to identify adolescent and family characteristics that moderate treatment effects on pain outcomes in 111 adolescents aged 12 to 18 with SCD (M = 14.9, SD = 1.9, girls = 59%) and their caregivers. Adolescents were randomly assigned to digital CBT (N = 57) or education control (N = 54). Digital CBT included separate content for parents/caregivers (ie, a website to learn problem-solving skills and behavioral and communication strategies) and youths (ie, a smartphone app and website to learn pain management skills). Outcomes were assessed at pretreatment, posttreatment (2 months), and follow-up (6 months). Potential moderators included pretreatment variables (ie, adolescent variables: age, executive functioning, anxiety, depression; parent variables: psychological distress, protective behaviors, family functioning). There was a significant overall effect modification on pain intensity outcomes from pretreatment parent psychological distress (P = 0.012), where CBT appeared more effective among those with elevated parental distress. Differential intervention effects were observed across multiple potential moderator groups, though most of these differences did not reach statistical significance. Our study underscores the importance of family factors in understanding the efficacy of digital CBT for adolescent SCD pain, pointing to the need for future research to optimize CBT through targeted family-focused strategies.

Indexed as

Anemia, Sickle CellCognitive Behavioral TherapyPain ManagementAdolescentChildFemaleHumansMalePain MeasurementTreatment OutcomeAdolescentsDigital cognitive-behavioral therapyModeratorsRandomized controlled trialSickle cell disease pain

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.