Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Jul 26, 2021
Date Accepted: Nov 22, 2021
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Gamified web-delivered attentional bias modification training for adults with chronic pain: Protocol for a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
Research to date has found variable success in using attentional bias modification training (ABMT) procedures in pain samples. Several factors could contribute to these mixed findings, including boredom and low motivation. Indeed, the training paradigm is repetitive, which can lead to disengagement and high drop-out rates. A potential approach to overcome some of these barriers is to attempt to increase motivation and engagement through gamification (ie, the use of game elements) of this procedure. To date, research has yet to explore the gamified format of ABMT for chronic pain and its potential for transfer of benefits.
Objective:
The aim of this paper is to describe the protocol of a randomized trial designed to investigate the effects of a gamified web-delivered ABMT procedure in a sample of adults with chronic pain.
Methods:
One hundred and twenty adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain, recruited from a hospital outpatient waiting list and the wider community, will be included in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 3-arm trial. Participants will be randomly assigned to complete six online sessions of dot-probe non-gamified sham control ABMT, non-gamified standard ABMT, or gamified ABMT, across a period of three weeks. Active ABMT conditions will aim to train attention away from pain-relevant words. Participant outcomes will be assessed at pre-training, during training, immediately post-training and at 1-month follow-up. Primary outcomes include pain intensity, pain interference, and behavioral and self-reported engagement. Secondary outcomes include attentional bias for pain, anxiety, depression, interpretation bias for pain, and perceived improvement.
Results:
Recruitment is expected to be completed by 2023, in anticipation of COVID-19-related delays.
Conclusions:
This trial will be the first to evaluate the effects of gamification techniques in a pain ABMT intervention. The findings will provide important information on the potential therapeutic benefits of gamified pain ABMT programs, shed light on the motivational influences of certain game elements in the context of pain, and advance our understanding of chronic pain and its mechanisms. Clinical Trial: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12620000803998
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