NCT06957743 Mechanisms of Mindfulness Meditation and Self-Hypnosis for Pain in Older Adults With Chronic Pain
| NCT ID | NCT06957743 |
| Status | Recruiting |
| Phase | — |
| Sponsor | University of Washington |
| Condition | Chronic Pain |
| Study Type | INTERVENTIONAL |
| Enrollment | 375 participants |
| Start Date | 2026-03-04 |
| Primary Completion | 2029-03-01 |
Eligibility & Interventions
Eligibility Fast-Check
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What to Expect as a Participant
You will actively receive the study intervention — which may be a drug, biologic, device, or procedure.
This trial targets 375 participants in total. It began in 2026-03-04 with a primary completion date of 2029-03-01.
⚠ This information is for research awareness only. Always consult your physician before joining any clinical trial. Participation is voluntary and you may withdraw at any time.
Brief Summary
The goal of this study is to better understand how two common psychological treatments for pain work in the brain of older adults living with chronic pain. This study will: 1. evaluate fMRI of adults receiving psychological treatments for chronic pain to determine how these interventions work within older adults, and 2. examine self-report and EEG variables to identify for whom do these psychological interventions work. Adults ages 60 years and older, living with chronic pain for at least 3 months will be randomly assigned to one of three conditions: 1. Mindfulness-Meditation 2. Therapeutic Hypnosis 3. Story Listening
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria: 1. be ≥60 years of age; 2. have self-reported chronic pain (≥3-months, with pain experienced on ≥ 50% of days); 3. endorse an average intensity of pain ≥3 on a 0-10 numerical rating scale (NRS) for most days of the previous 3-months; 4. be able to read, speak, and understand English; 5. be naïve to meditation and hypnosis: * never received formal training in or attended a mindfulness meditation or therapeutic hypnosis course; * have not practiced meditation (e.g., mindfulness meditation, Zen, Buddhism, or meditation applications such as certain types of CALM meditation; or therapeutic hypnosis (e.g., hypnosis applications) in the past 6-months; * \<20-min. practice/week of meditation or therapeutic hypnosis (not described above) over the past 6-months; 6. if currently taking analgesic or psychotropic medication, medication must have been stabilized for ≥4-weeks prior to this study and does not anticipate changes in the medication during the study; 7. access to a private place with adequate internet reception to support participation in intervention training sessions; 8. not currently participating in another clinical trial or interventional study for chronic pain and willing to refrain from participation in any other clinical trial or interventional study for chronic pain during active participation in this study; 9. willing, able, and committed to participate in an in-person EEG, and two MRI/fMRI scans; and 10. able to use an electronic device (e.g., smart phone, tablet, computer) independently to access email and webpages or have someone available in their home who can help them with initial session set-up and then leave for the treatment sessions. Exclusion Criteria: 1. have a history of a medical condition that could produce an abnormal EEG (e.g., epilepsy, history of traumatic brain injury); 2. have an EEG confounder (e.g., congenital or acquired skull defects, missing sections or holes in the skull, or plates, screws, or other implants within the skull or brain) that would interfere with reliable EEG data collection; 3. have metals in the body (e.g., pacemakers and/or cochlear implant) that are not allowed by IBIC MRI technicians; 4. self-report claustrophobia or other contraindications to MRI scanning; 5. have uncontrolled hypertension; 6. have a primary chronic pain condition of headache; 7. have chronic pain due to malignancy (e.g., cancer) or a chronic pain condition for which surgery is recommended and/or planned; 8. alcohol abuse (operationalized as scoring ≥5 (male) or ≥4 (female) and responds that they have three or more standard drinks on a typical day or they have six or more drinks on one occasion less than monthly or greater on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Concise (AUDIT-C), or any substance (drug) abuse, all of which may impact EEG measures. 9. severe cognitive impairment defined as ≥2 errors on the 6-Item Cognitive Impairment test or show signs of cognitive impairment on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA, using demographically-adjusted normative cut-offs that take into account race, ethnicity, age, and educational attainment); 10. currently receiving other psychosocial treatments for any pain condition (as this may influence these treatment results); 11. self-report previous participation in an experimental pain study; 12. report \<2 on a 0-10 NRS for pain intensity in response to experimental "heat" pain stimuli (in order to avoid floor effects and to ensure participants are not too insensitive to thermal pain to reliably produce detectable pain-related brain activation); 13. unstable medical or psychiatric condition (e.g., mania, psychotic symptoms) that would interfere with study participation; or 14. active suicidal ideation/intent indicating significant risk.
Contact & Investigator
Mark Jensen, PhD
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
University of Washington
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can join the NCT06957743 clinical trial?
This trial is open to participants of all sexes, aged 60 Years or older, studying Chronic Pain. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria are listed in the Eligibility Criteria section. Always confirm your eligibility with the research team before applying.
Is NCT06957743 currently recruiting?
Yes, NCT06957743 is actively recruiting participants. Contact the research team at rsalem@uw.edu for enrollment information.
Where is the NCT06957743 trial being conducted?
This trial is being conducted at Seattle, United States.
Who is sponsoring the NCT06957743 clinical trial?
NCT06957743 is sponsored by University of Washington. The principal investigator is Mark Jensen, PhD at University of Washington. The trial plans to enroll 375 participants.
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