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Systematic reviews suggest that stand-alone hypnotic suggestions may improve pain outcomes compared with no treatment, waitlist, or usual care. However, in clinical practice, hypnosis is often provided adjunctively with other interventions, which might have different effects than those reported in previous reviews. This systematic review aimed to summarize the analgesic effects of adjunctive hypnosis in adults with clinical pain. Seven databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Emcare, SCOPUS, CENTRAL, Cochrane) were searched up to January 2024. Randomised controlled trials comparing the analgesic effects of adjunctive hypnosis (hypnosis + primary intervention) with those of the primary intervention alone were included. Meta-analyses (random-effects model) calculated mean differences (MD, [95% confidence intervals]) for pain intensity (0-100). Seventy studies were pooled in meta-analyses (n = 6078). Hypnosis adjunctive to usual care had a small additional analgesic effect (chronic pain: -8.2 [-11.8, -1.9]; medical procedures/surgical pain: -6.9 [-10.4, -3.3]; burn wound care: -8.8 [-13.8, -3.9]). Hypnosis adjunctive to education had a medium additional analgesic effect for chronic pain (-11.5 [-19.7, 3.3]) but not postsurgery pain (-2.0 [-7.8, 3.7]). When paired with psychological interventions, hypnosis slightly increased analgesia in chronic pain only at the three-month follow-up (-2 [-3.7, -0.3]). Hypnosis adjunctive to medicines had a medium additional analgesic effect for chronic pain (-13.2, [-22.5, -3.8]). The overall evidence certainty is very low; therefore, there is still uncertainty about the analgesic effects of adjunctive hypnosis. However, hypnosis adjunct to education may reduce pain intensity for chronic pain. Clarification of proposed therapeutic targets of adjunctive hypnosis to evaluate underlying mechanisms is warranted., Competing Interests: R.R.N.R. has received fees from the 2021 Allied Health Cross Boundary Grant Stream to deliver a workshop about pain education and clinical hypnosis. F.A.B. has received support to attend meetings and travel from the International Society for the Study of Pain, the Australian Pain Society, the European Pain Federation, the South Australian Association of Internal Medicine, the Australian Podiatry Association, the Australian Physiotherapy Association, the San Diego Pain Summit, and internal grants from her institutions. G.L.M. has received support from Reality Health, Connect Health, Institutes of Health California, AIA Australia, Workers' Compensation Boards in Australia, Europe and North America, the International Olympic Committee, various professional organisations and learned societies. He receives royalties for several books on pain and speakers' fees for talks on pain and rehabilitation. M.P.J. is the author of 2 books, is the editor of 6 others, and facilitates workshops related to the topic of this paper. He received royalties from the sales of the books and sometimes receives fees for the workshops he facilitates. In addition, M.P.J. owns equity in a company that is developing products to teach hypnosis to individuals to improve their quality of life. T.R.S. has received funding for lectures on pain and rehabilitation and has received royalties for books on pain and rehabilitation. All other authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.Sponsorships or competing interests that may be relevant to content are disclosed at the end of this article., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of The International Association for the Study of Pain.)

Abstract: Negative attitudes/beliefs surrounding osteoarthritis, pain, and activity contribute to reduced physical activity in people with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). These attitudes/beliefs are assessed using self-report questionnaires, relying on information one is consciously aware of and willing to disclose. Automatic (ie, implicit) assessment of attitudes does not rely on conscious reflection and may identify features unique from self-report. We developed an implicit association test that explored associations between images of a person moving/twisting their knee (activity) or sitting/standing (rest), and perceived threat (safe vs dangerous). We hypothesised that people with KOA would have greater implicit threat-activity associations (vs pain-free and non-knee pain controls), with implicit attitudes only weakly correlating with self-reported measures (pain knowledge, osteoarthritis/pain/activity beliefs, fear of movement). Participants (n = 558) completed an online survey: 223 had painful KOA (n = 157 female, 64.5 ± 8.9 years); 207 were pain free (n = 157 female, 49.3 ± 15.3 years); and 99 had non-KOA lower limb pain (n = 74 female, 47.5 ± 15.04 years). An implicit association between "danger" and "activity" was present in those with and without limb pain (KOA: 0.36, 95% CI 0.28-0.44; pain free: 0.13, 95% CI 0.04-0.22; non-KOA lower limb pain 0.11, 95% CI -0.03 to 0.24) but was significantly greater in the KOA group than in the pain free ( P < 0.001) and non-KOA lower limb pain ( P = 0.004) groups. Correlations between implicit and self-reported measures were nonsignificant or weak (rho = -0.29 to 0.19, P < 0.001 to P = 0.767). People with painful KOA hold heightened implicit threat-activity associations, capturing information unique to that from self-report questionnaires. Evaluating links between implicit threat-activity associations and real-world behaviour, including physical activity levels, is warranted., (Copyright © 2024 International Association for the Study of Pain.)

Many people with osteoarthritis hold beliefs that physical activity is unhelpful or dangerous for their joints, despite high-level evidence suggesting otherwise. Recent advances in scientific understanding of osteoarthritis have led to new treatments that target an individual's understanding both of their condition and the importance of best-practice management strategies, such as physical activity. Conceptual change has been proposed as an important mechanism by which cognitive interventions, such as pain science education, may reduce pain and improve function. There are currently no specific assessments of osteoarthritis conceptualisation to determine the effectiveness of cognitive interventions in effecting conceptual change in people with knee osteoarthritis. Therefore, we aimed to develop an item bank, as the first phase of developing a questionnaire to assess people's conceptualisations about their knee osteoarthritis and the role of physical activity in managing their osteoarthritis. Using a guideline-informed mixed method design, a panel of experts identified domains relevant to conceptualisation about knee osteoarthritis and physical activity (knowledge, beliefs, understanding) based upon available evidence. The panel created 33 provisional items. Qualitative and quantitative pretesting were used to explore how people with knee osteoarthritis understood the provisional items. Eighteen people with knee osteoarthritis completed cognitive interviews about their comprehension of the wording/grammar of each provisional item. The provisional item bank was field tested with 100 people with knee osteoarthritis. Readability was adequate with a Flesch reading ease score of 57.7. Although 14.7% used the 'Strongly agree' response option, only 3.4% of responses used the 'Strongly disagree' option, suggesting possible response bias. Predictive quality testing identified relevant modifications to the questionnaire instructions. The panel of experts appraised the qualitative data to assess whether and how items should be modified to address the problems identified, resulting in a final item bank of 45 items that can be evaluated for psychometric properties in future research., Competing Interests: BWP has received personal fees for science writing for Cosmos Magazine, and honoraria from Elsevier for contributing to a textbook on an unrelated subject. He is a volunteer for PainChats LLC., and for Pain Revolution. FAB has received speaker fees for talks relating to pain. DSB receives royalties for books on pain education. ARV is an employee of Noigroup, a company that publishes pain science education books and delivers professional courses on pain science education. GLM has received support from: Reality Health, ConnectHealth UK, Kaiser Permanente, AIA Australia, Workers’ Compensation Boards and professional sporting organisations in Australia, Europe, South and North America. Professional and scientific bodies have reimbursed him for travel costs related to presentation of research on pain at scientific conferences/symposia. He has received speaker fees for lectures on pain and rehabilitation. He receives royalties for books on pain and pain education. TRS receives speakers’ fees for talks on pain and rehabilitation., (Copyright: © 2023 Pulling et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a debilitating and burdensome condition, and new treatment strategies are needed. This study aimed to evaluate (1) the feasibility of undertaking a controlled clinical trial investigating a novel intervention for people with CLBP: hypnotically reinforced pain science education, and (2) the acceptability of the intervention as rated by participants. A priori feasibility and intervention acceptability criteria were set. Twenty participants with CLBP were recruited and randomized to receive: (1) hypnotically delivered pain science education that utilizes hypnotic suggestions to enhance uptake of pain science concepts; or (2) pain science education with progressive muscle relaxation as an attention control. Twenty participants were recruited, however, not solely from the hospital waitlist as intended; community sampling was required (13 hospital, 7 community). Most criteria were met in the community sample but not the hospital sample. Protocol modifications are needed before progressing to a full scale randomized controlled trial for hypnotically reinforced pain science education. Improvements in relevant secondary outcomes paired with moderate-high treatment acceptability ratings are promising.

Background: Despite well-established benefits of physical activity for knee osteoarthritis (OA), nine of ten people with knee OA are inactive. People with knee OA who are inactive often believe that physical activity is dangerous, fearing that it will further damage their joint(s). Such unhelpful beliefs can negatively influence physical activity levels. We aim to evaluate the clinical- and cost-effectiveness of integrating physiotherapist-delivered pain science education (PSE), an evidence-based conceptual change intervention targeting unhelpful pain beliefs by increasing pain knowledge, with an individualised walking, strengthening, and general education program., Methods: Two-arm, parallel-design, multicentre randomised controlled trial involving 198 people aged ≥50 years with painful knee OA who do not meet physical activity guideline recommendations or walk regularly for exercise. Both groups receive an individualised physiotherapist-led walking, strengthening, and OA/activity education program via 4x weekly in-person treatment sessions, followed by 4 weeks of at-home activities (weekly check-in via telehealth), with follow-up sessions at 3 months (telehealth) and 5 and 9 months (in-person). The EPIPHA-KNEE group also receives contemporary PSE about OA/pain and activity, embedded into all aspects of the intervention. Outcomes are assessed at baseline, 12 weeks, 6 and 12 months. Primary outcomes are physical activity level (step count; wrist-based accelerometry) and self-reported knee symptoms (WOMAC Total score) at 12 months. Secondary outcomes are quality of life, pain intensity, global rating of change, self-efficacy, pain catastrophising, depression, anxiety, stress, fear of movement, knee awareness, OA/activity conceptualisation, and self-regulated learning ability. Additional measures include adherence, adverse events, blinding success, COVID-19 impact on activity, intention to exercise, treatment expectancy/perceived credibility, implicit movement/environmental bias, implicit motor imagery, two-point discrimination, and pain sensitivity to activity. Cost-utility analysis of the EPIPHA-KNEE intervention will be undertaken, in addition to evaluation of cost-effectiveness in the context of primary trial outcomes., Discussion: We will determine whether the integration of PSE into an individualised OA education, walking, and strengthening program is more effective than receiving the individualised program alone. Findings will inform the development and implementation of future delivery of PSE as part of best practice for people with knee OA., Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12620001041943 (13/10/2020)., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

We tested the hypotheses that rendering sensory input about hand location imprecise increases a classically conditioned pain expectancy effect, increases generalization of the effect to novel locations and reduces extinction of the effect. Forty healthy volunteers performed movements with their right hand along predefined paths. Each path passed through 2 locations that were defined as either i) the conditioned stimulus (CS+; paired with a painful unconditioned stimulus), or ii) unpaired (CS-). During acquisition phase, participants watched their hand as they moved it. Participants were randomly allocated to an Imprecise group, for whom visual feedback of the hand was offset 30 to 50 mm from its true location, or a Precise group, for whom vision was not disrupted. In the test phase, participants moved their hands to 5 locations-the CS+, CS-, and 3 locations that lay between the 2 ("generalization stimuli"). Our primary hypothesis was supported-pain expectancy was greater at the CS+ location in the Imprecise group than in the Precise group (6.9 [SD = 1.9] vs 5.4 [SD = 2.5], P= .02). Pain expectancies generalized to novel locations similarly in both groups and there was no difference in extinction between groups. Our primary hypothesis was supported but our subsequent hypotheses were not. PERSPECTIVE: We conditioned pain expectancy at a certain location of one hand, even though most participants were unaware of the contingency. Conditioned pain expectancy was greater when sensory information about location was less precise. This adds support to the possibility that associative learning may play a role in the progression of an acute pain episode to a more generalized pain disorder., (Copyright © 2021 United States Association for the Study of Pain, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Resizing illusions that manipulate perceived body size are analgesic in some chronic pain conditions. Little is known whether such illusions may also alter other physiological features, such as swelling., Objectives: To determine the effects of a knee resizing illusion on knee pain and swelling in symptomatic osteoarthritis., Methods: This case study was extracted from a larger study evaluating the analgesic effects of resizing illusions in people with knee osteoarthritis. A mediated reality system (alters real-time video) was used to provide resizing "stretch" and "shrink" illusions of the knee. Knee pain intensity (0-100 numerical rating scale) was measured before and after illusion and after sustained (3 minutes) and repeated (n = 10) illusions. In this case study, knee swelling (leg circumference below, at, and above the knee) was also measured., Results: The 55-year-old male participant reported a long history of episodic knee pain and swelling that was subsequently diagnosed as severe osteoarthritis in 2013. In the first testing session, the participant experienced an increase in pain with the shrink illusion and a decrease in pain with stretch illusion. A noticeable increase in knee swelling was also observed. Thus, in sessions 2/3, swelling was also assessed. The stretch illusion decreased pain to the largest extent, but resulted in increased knee swelling. Repeated and sustained stretch illusions had cumulative analgesic effects but resulted in cumulative increases in swelling. While the shrink illusion increased pain, sustained (∼10 minutes) visual minification of the entire knee and leg reduced both pain and swelling., Conclusion: Our case report suggests that both pain and swelling may be modifiable by altering body-relevant sensory input in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis., Competing Interests: Sponsorships or competing interests that may be relevant to content are disclosed at the end of this article., (Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of The International Association for the Study of Pain.)