Pain Neuroscience Education for Middle School Students

Summary

This project was designed as a single-blind, randomised controlled, prospective intervention study. The research question of the project is 'Is pain neuroscience education an effective method to improve various aspects of child health, conceptualise pain and change pain-related behaviours in middle school children?'. In other words, the aim of this project is to investigate whether pain neuroscience education (PNE4Kids) is an effective method for improving various aspects of child health, conceptualising pain and changing pain-related behaviours in middle school children. For this purpose, it is planned to implement PNE4Kids based power point presentation and interactive game training. It is aimed to evaluate children in terms of physical activity level, sleep quality/habits, pain conceptualisation level and participation in leisure time activities. Physical activity levels will be assessed with Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometer device and 'Physical Activity Scale for Older Children'. Sleep quality/ habits will be assessed with Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometer and 'Children's Sleep Habits Scale-short form'. Knowledge of pain conceptualisation will be assessed with the 'Conceptualisation of Pain' scale. Children's level of participation in leisure time activities will be assessed through the participation section/domain of the Participation Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY). After the baseline measurements of the individuals included in the study and who volunteered will be completed, they will be randomly assigned to the control or intervention group. Participants in the intervention group will receive 'Turkish PNE4Kids Programme'. Individuals in the control group will not receive any intervention. All evaluations will be repeated before the training, immediately after the training and at the end of the 3rd month after the training.

Conditions

• Pain
• Pediatrics
• Neuroscience Pain Education
• Physical Activity

Interventions

OTHER

Turkish PNE4Kids

Participants in the intervention group will receive 'Turkish PNE4Kids Programme'. The PNE4Kids program was developed based on the book "Explain pain" by Butler and Moseley and includes an explanation and reassurance on the cause of pain, a brief summary of relevant pain mechanisms, and the integral role of psychosocial and physical factors in precipitating and maintaining pain. This programme has been translated and validated in Turkish children.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Kutahya Health Sciences University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Esra AKIN, Ph.D. · Kutahya Health Sciences University

• İnci ARIKAN, Prof. Dr. · Kutahya Health Sciences University

• Kelly ICKMANS, Ph.D. · Vrije Universiteit Brussels

• Emma RHEEL, Ph.D. · Vrije Universiteit Brussels

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

10 Years

Max Age

12 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-09-01

Primary Completion

2026-02-28

Completion

2026-06-30

Countries

• Turkey (Türkiye)

Study Locations