Internet-Delivered Pain Self-Management for Persons With Acute Recurrent and Chronic Pancreatitis Pain

NCT ID: NCT06386224

Last Updated: 2026-01-21

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

280 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2024-05-01

Study Completion Date

2026-09-30

Brief Summary

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Severe and disabling abdominal pain is common in individuals with chronic pancreatitis. Although pain is associated with reduced quality of life and high economic and societal costs, there are limited effective options for pain management in this population. This study proposes an evidence-based psychological intervention approach using an internet-delivered pain self-management program to minimize the impact of pain and improve quality of life. The ultimate goal is to maximize the public health impact of the intervention with successful implementation and dissemination to pancreas clinics and to the community.

Detailed Description

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Severe abdominal pain is a cardinal symptom of pancreatitis, present in up to 90% of patients with recurrent acute pancreatitis (RAP) and chronic pancreatitis (CP). As pain increases in severity and constancy, it is associated with significant morbidity including depression and anxiety symptoms, low physical functioning, sleep disturbance, and low quality of life, as well as high economic and societal burden. This application focuses on addressing this treatment gap in pain management with a well-established nonpharmacologic intervention. The investigators propose a hybrid effectiveness-implementation design type 1 trial to make rapid translational gains with the primary goal of gathering data on treatment effects of internet-delivered pain self-management on pancreatitis pain and pain interference in individuals with RAP and CP with a secondary goal of gathering implementation data to inform dissemination of the program to real-world settings. Our central hypothesis is that pain self-management will be effective in reducing pain interference and severity in individuals with painful RAP and CP. This study will leverage resources of the Chronic Pancreatitis, Diabetes, and Pancreatic Cancer (CPDPC) Consortium, a National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases-sponsored U01 consortium with recruitment from their nine clinical centers and from self-referral in the community through partnership with the National Pancreas Foundation. Using a multicenter randomized-controlled pragmatic clinical trial, the study team will enroll 280 individuals with painful CP into the clinical trial and randomize them to learn pain self-management skills (e.g., relaxation, activity pacing, goal setting) or receive education, and will collect patient-reported outcomes at baseline, two months, and six-month follow-up. Relevant stakeholder groups (patients, providers, organizational managers) will participate in a process evaluation to inform future implementation in clinic and community settings. The proposed investigation will significantly advance solutions for nonopioid pain management in CP.

Conditions

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Pancreatitis Chronic Pancreatitis Acute Recurrent Pancreatitis

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Participants randomized to the active intervention arm will receive access to the Pancreatitis Pain Course to learn cognitive-behavioral (CBT) pain self-management skills (e.g., changing negative thoughts, relaxation, activity pacing, goal setting). Participants randomized to the control arm will receive access to an education website.
Primary Study Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Blinding Strategy

TRIPLE

Participants Investigators Outcome Assessors
Participants are not informed of their condition assignment and both receive online programs for chronic pancreatitis. Investigators are blinded \& masked to study condition, and all outcomes are assessed via self-reported REDCap surveys. Care providers are not involved in the study (N/A).

Study Groups

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Internet-delivered pain self-management (CBT Condition)

Participants randomized to the CBT condition will receive access to a pain self-management program, available through any internet-enabled device. The design and treatment content follow a cognitive-behavioral framework in which participants receive information to understand their CP pain, learn a range of cognitive and behavioral skills to manage their symptoms and difficulties, and practice and adopt the skills taught in the program. The program consists of 5 online lessons, which are in the form of a slide show, and 5 downloadable lesson summaries, which provide homework assignments to assist participants in learning and applying the skills described in the lessons. These materials are released over the course of eight weeks and include a combination of didactic information and narrative examples. Several detailed case stories and real-world examples of individuals with CP pain are integrated throughout the course.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Internet-delivered pain self-management (CBT Condition)

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants will login to the website for 15-20 minutes per week, and complete 5 modules focused on different skills delivered over 8 weeks (e.g., symptom identification, changing negative thoughts, activity pacing)

Education Program

Participants randomized to the education program will receive access to a website with information about pancreatitis pain from publicly available educational websites (e.g., National Pancreas Foundation). Participants assigned to the education program will complete five modules released over the same time interval as the CBT group.

Group Type PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

Education Program

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants will login to the website for 15-20 minutes per week, and complete 5 modules focusing on pancreatitis pain topics, including: an introduction to pancreatitis, treatment options, specific therapies, surgical procedures.

Interventions

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Internet-delivered pain self-management (CBT Condition)

Participants will login to the website for 15-20 minutes per week, and complete 5 modules focused on different skills delivered over 8 weeks (e.g., symptom identification, changing negative thoughts, activity pacing)

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Education Program

Participants will login to the website for 15-20 minutes per week, and complete 5 modules focusing on pancreatitis pain topics, including: an introduction to pancreatitis, treatment options, specific therapies, surgical procedures.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Age ≥ 18 years
* Willingness to use personal device with internet access (smart phone, computer, iPad) or to borrow a study iPad/hotspot
* Diagnosis of CP defined as having obvious morphological features of CP (i.e., Cambridge 3-4 stage or the presence of pancreatic calcifications on CT scan and/or magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography)
* Diagnosis of RAP defined as having abdominal pain of a duration of \>=3 months, one episode of acute pancreatitis (AP), or RAP.
* Having experienced moderate pain intensity (rated as 4 or higher on a 0-10 Numerical Rating Scale) in the last month from RAP or CP.

Exclusion Criteria

* Undergoing treatment for cancer
* Unable to read English well enough to complete questionnaires or read the study website
* Currently experiencing suicidal ideation
* Having received endoscopic therapy in the past 30 days
* Currently receiving treatment from a psychologist (\> 4 sessions)
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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University of Kentucky

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Seattle Children's Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Tonya Palermo

Professor, Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

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Seattle Children's Hospital

Seattle, Washington, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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United States

Central Contacts

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Tonya Palermo, PhD

Role: CONTACT

206-884-4208

Facility Contacts

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Tonya Palermo, PhD

Role: primary

206-884-4208

Other Identifiers

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1R01DK137520-01

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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