ClinicalTrials.gg
TerminatedNCT03673358COPE PilotUpdated Jan 29, 2020

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to Optimize Post-Operative Recovery Pilot

An interventional study of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in Pain, Postoperative, Fractures, Open and Fractures, Closed, sponsored by McMaster University. Terminated at 6 sites in Canada. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2020-01-29.

Sponsored by McMaster University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

Why this study was terminated
Low compliance with CBT, and challenges with the CBT provider. Previous participants will be considered the pilot phase.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
83
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Psychological factors such as stress, distress, anxiety, depression, and poor coping strategies may be associated with ongoing pain following injuries such as fractures. To study this relationship, patients will undergo cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) which is designed to modify such thoughts with the goal of reducing ongoing pain and improving quality of life. The goal of this study is to determine if CBT, versus usual care, reduces the prevalence of moderate to severe persistent post-surgical pain (PPSP) over 12-months post-fracture

Read the detailed description

The relationship between psychological factors, behaviors, and cognitive processes and the sensation of pain is well documented. Stress, distress, anxiety, depression, catastrophizing, fear-avoidance behaviors, and poor coping strategies appear to have a significant positive relationship with both acute and chronic pain. Evidence suggests that these psychological factors can cause alterations along the spinal and supraspinal pain pathways which influence the perception of pain. Previous studies suggest that patients' beliefs and expectations may be associated with clinical outcomes, including self-reported pain. Previous studies in trauma patients have demonstrated patients' beliefs and expectations regarding their recovery following surgery are associated with functional limitations, lower rates of return to work, and reduced quality of life one year after injury. Furthermore, up to two thirds of patients with operative managed extremity fractures demonstrate unhelpful illness beliefs that increase risks of negative outcomes, including persistent pain. Psychological interventions, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), that are designed to modify unhelpful beliefs and behaviours have the potential to reduce persistent post-surgical pain and its associated effects among trauma patients.

Our primary objective is to determine if CBT, versus usual care, reduces the prevalence of moderate to severe PPSP over 12 months post-fracture in participants with an open fracture of the appendicular skeleton, or closed fracture of the lower extremity or pelvis. Our secondary objectives are to determine if CBT, versus usual care: 1) increases physical functioning, 2) improves mental functioning, 3) accelerates return to function, 4) reduces pain severity, and 5) reduces pain interference over 12 months post-fracture, and 6) reduces the proportion of participants prescribed opioid class medications (and average dose) at 6 and 12 months post-fracture in patients with an open fracture of the appendicular skeleton or closed fracture of the lower extremity or pelvis. This trial is a multi-centre RCT of 1,000 participants with an open fracture of the appendicular skeleton or closed fracture of the lower extremity or pelvis treated with internal fixation.

02

Conditions studied

  • Pain, Postoperative
  • Fractures, Open
  • Fractures, Closed
03

In context

Pain, Postoperative

5,640 studies on the registry are indexed under Pain, Postoperative; 1,230 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 83 is above the median of 75 across 4,821 interventional studies indexed under Pain, Postoperative.

Browse Pain, Postoperative studies →

Lead sponsor

McMaster University is the lead sponsor of 741 studies on the registry; 127 are open to participants now.

Of its 7 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 3 (43%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Adult men or women aged 18 years and older.
  • Presenting to fracture clinic within 2-12 weeks following an acute open fracture of the appendicular skeleton or closed fracture of the lower extremity or pelvis. Patients with multiple fractures may be included.
  • Fracture treated operatively with internal fixation.
  • Willing to participate in CBT
  • Language skills and cognitive ability required to participate in CBT (in the judgement of site research personnel).
  • Consistent online access from a smartphone/internet-enabled device with a minimum operating system able to use the CBT provider application or videoconferencing software applications.
  • Provision of .

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Fragility fracture.
  • Stress fracture.
  • Fracture of the hand.
  • Fracture of the foot.
  • Concomitant injury which, in the opinion of the attending surgeon, is likely to impair function for as long as or longer than the patient's extremity fracture.
  • Active psychosis.
  • Active suicidality.
  • Active substance use disorder that, in the judgement of the treating surgeon, would interfere in the patient's ability to partake in the CBT and/or the trial.
  • Already participating in, or planning to, start other psychological treatments (including CBT) within the duration of the study (12 months).
  • Anticipated problems, in the judgement of study personnel, with the patient participating in CBT intervention and/or returning for follow-up.
  • Incarceration.
  • Currently enrolled in a study that does not permit co-enrolment in other trials.
  • Previously enrolled in the COPE trial.
  • Other reason to exclude the patient, as approved by the Methods Centre.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
83 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Intervention - CBT

    Participants in this arm will receive cognitive behavioural therapy. Participants will have the choice of completing six real-time telephone or video-delivered CBT sessions with a therapist OR complete online modules with asynchronous feedback with a dedicated therapist in addition to standard of care for their fracture injury.

    Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

  • No intervention
    No intervention- - control

    Participants in the control arm of the study will receive standard of care treatment for their fracture(s) but will not receive any Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

Interventions

  • BehavioralCognitive Behavioural Therapy

    Participants who are randomized to the CBT intervention will be encouraged to begin CBT immediately following randomization. The CBT intervention will focus on addressing maladaptive beliefs related to pain and recovery as well as teaching skills to enhance coping and management of pain symptoms. The specific focus of CBT sessions will be informed by each individual patient's responses to baseline questionnaires. All other aspects of post-operative care will be at the discretion of participant's surgeon. Other Name: CBT

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. The prevalence of moderate to severe Persistent Post-Surgical Pain at 12 months' post-fracture

    The primary outcome is PPSP according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) proposed definition. The WHO's definition requires 4 criteria for the diagnosis of PPSP: 1) Pain that began after surgery or a tissue trauma is experienced; 2) The pain is in an area of preceding surgery or tissue trauma, 3) The pain persisted for at least three months after the initiating event, and 4) The pain is not better explained by an infection, a malignancy, a pre-existing pain condition or any other alternative cause.

    Time frame: 12 months post-fracture

Secondary outcomes

  1. Short Form 36 (SF-36)

    General health related quality of life will be assessed by the SF-36. The SF-36 is an established, reliable and validated health status measure. It is a self-administered, 36-item questionnaire that measures health-related quality of life in 8 domains related to physical, social, mental, and emotional functioning, bodily pain, and general health. Both physical and mental summary scores can be obtained. Each domain is scored separately from 0 (lowest level) to 100 (highest level).

    Time frame: 12 months post-fracture

  2. Return to Function questionnaire

    Return to function will be measured by when participants' return to work, household activities, and leisure activities, as well as when they achieve 80% of their pre-injury function. The return to function outcome will be assessed using the Return to Function questionnaire.

    Time frame: 12 months post-fracture

  3. BPI-SF

    The Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) assess pain severity and its impact on function

    Time frame: 12 months post-fracture

  4. Opioid Use

    Patient-reported use of opioid class medications. To determine if CBT versus usual care reduces the proportion of participants taking opioid class medications at 6 months and 12 months.

    Time frame: 12 months post-fracture

07

Study locations

6 sites
  • The Moncton Hospital
    Saint John, New Brunswick E2L 4L2, Canada
  • QEII Health Sciences Centre
    Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
  • Hamilton General Hospital
    Hamilton, Ontario L8L 2X2, Canada
  • London Health Sciences Centre
    London, Ontario, Canada
  • Ottawa Civic Hospital
    Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  • Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre
    Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jan 29, 2020, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03673358
Collaborators
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Orthopaedic Trauma Association
Responsible party
Sheila Sprague (Assistant Professor, McMaster University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Sep 17, 2018
Start date
Jan 9, 2019
Primary completion
Aug 8, 2019
Completion
Aug 8, 2019
Last update
Jan 29, 2020

Study contacts

Sheila Sprague, PhD
principal investigator · McMaster University
Jason Busse, PhD
principal investigator · McMaster University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is terminated, as verified in Jan 2020. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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