The following is a summary of “Mean of Daily Versus Single Week Recall-Based Pain Quality Assessments in Neuropathic Pain Trials: Implications for Assay Sensitivity,” published in the July 2024 issue of Pain by Rangel et al.

Patients with neuropathic pain frequently exhibit diverse pain and sensory qualities, which can be used as outcomes in RCTs.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study examining the within-participant variability in sensory severity qualities and comparing the assay sensitivity of daily vs. weekly recall assessments.

They utilized data from an RCT on transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (N=142). Participants assessed painful and non-painful sensations daily for a week (24-hour recall) and weekly (week recall) at the start and after 6 weeks of treatment.

The result showed the daily mean assessments in substantially smaller projected sample sizes to detect observed effect sizes for hot/burning pain (153 vs. 388) and cramping (121 vs. 349) compared to week recall, with only a slight increase in sample size needed for sharp/shooting pain (22 participants).

Investigators concluded that daily mean assessments of pain qualities may enhance RCT assay sensitivity compared to single-week recall-based assessments, improving the definition of entry criteria and outcome evaluations.

Source: jpain.org/article/S1526-5900(24)00593-5/abstract#%20