PLOS ONE · 15 authors, 8 centres
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This is a protocol for a randomized controlled trial testing whether adding Pain Neuroscience Education via an app to a multimodal rehabilitation program improves pain, function, and quality of life in breast cancer survivors with persistent pain.
This paper describes the protocol for the PaiNEd randomized controlled trial. The study will enroll 72 breast cancer survivors with persistent pain, randomizing them into three groups: PNE plus multimodal rehabilitation (MR), traditional biomedical information plus MR, or a control group. The 8-week intervention includes educational content delivered via a mobile app and an MR program with concurrent exercise and manual therapy. Primary outcome is perceived pain measured by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS); secondary outcomes include pain catastrophizing, central sensitization, kinesiophobia, quality of life, physical activity, and various physical function measures. Assessments are planned at baseline, post-intervention, and at 6-month follow-up. The protocol is based on prior evidence that PNE combined with other therapies benefits chronic pain conditions, but it is novel in testing a PNE app within physical therapy for breast cancer survivors. The study aims to determine if the combined intervention is more effective than MR alone. Limitations include the expected moderate effect size and the timing of PNE delivery 6 months post-treatment.
