Pain in Paediatric CFS/ME v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating the feasibility of using Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) to assess sensory perception in children with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME)
IRAS ID
253375
Contact name
Esther Crawley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 30 days
Research summary
Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) in children is common and disabling. Over 60% of young people with CFS/ME experience moderate/severe pain and this is associated with more fatigue and worse physical function. In adults pain is associated with worse outcomes. However we understand little about the different types of pain which is necessary if we are to develop better treatments.\n\nQuantitative sensory testing (QST) has been widely used in children with and without chronic pain. It uses non-invasive stimuli, such as warmth and pressure, to measure sensory perception and pain thresholds. This will help us understand different pain phenotypes in CFS/ME.\n\nThis is a feasibility study. Our aim is to determine if recruitment for QST is feasible and acceptable. We will invite 20 young people aged 11-17 years with CFS/ME who attend the specialist paediatric CFS/ME service in Bristol to participate. Participants will be asked to complete a pain inventory and repeat inventories completed in clinic if >3 months since completion. We will apply cold, warm, and pressure sensations to a small area on the participants leg and ask participants to rate when the sensation is detected and when it becomes painful. Participants will then be invited to complete a short interview to explore whether the testing process was acceptable. Some children will have an extended interview asking them about their pain.\n\nFuture work:\nWe hope that using QST to understand how the brain processes pain will help us to identify groups of patients that will respond better to certain pain treatments. We also want to use QST in a randomised control trial to measure the effectiveness of current treatments for pain in CFS/ME.\n
REC name
South West - Central Bristol Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/SW/0272
Date of REC Opinion
18 Dec 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion