What is the study about?
The purpose of this study is to learn more about the psychological symptoms related to chronic pain. Specifically, we will use personalized methods to gain a better understanding of how physical and psychological symptoms interact for a single participant.
Why are you doing this study?
Recently, the field of psychology has joined in efforts to make medicine more personal. Our goal is to create a personalized model that shows how your psychological and pain symptoms interact. We hope that this will help patients and providers gain a better understanding of the individual’s presenting problems.
Who can participate?
To participate in this study, you must experience chronic pain (any physical pain lasting longer than 3 months) and own an smartphone. Other inclusion and exclusion criteria will be assessed at a screening visit.
What would I have to do?
First, you will have a screening visit at the Anxiety and Psychotherapy Lab (APL) on the WashU Danforth campus. This visit is expected to last about 1.5-2 hours. You would have a clinical interview and complete questionnaires on the computer.
In order to construct the personalized model, you will need to answer a short questionnaire 4 times a day for 1 month. The questionnaires will be delivered via a free app on your smartphone. Completing each of the questionnaires will help make your model more accurate. The questionnaires should take less than 3 minutes to complete each time.
Will I be paid?
In addition to the benefits of knowing more about your symptoms, we’d like to thank you for your efforts by providing additional monetary compensation. Because the accuracy of our results are highly dependent on the amount and quality of the data you provide, we’ve allowed for different levels of compensation based on how much data you provide.
You will receive $10 for completing the screening visit (even if you are not eligible).
You may also receive up to $25 for completing the daily surveys. You will only receive this $25 if you complete the questionnaires at least 90% of the times they are delivered. You only have 30 minutes from the initial notification to complete each survey.
If you don’t complete 90% of your surveys in the 4-week period, you can extend the period to receive compensation. For example, maybe you won’t be able to respond as frequently while you are on vacation. You can add an extra week at the end to ensure you do receive the $25 for completing 90% of surveys.
How do I learn more or volunteer?
Please contact Madelyn Frumkin (student investigator) at mfrumkin@wustl.edu.