An interventional study of Negative Connotation Langauge and Positive Connotation Language in Anesthesia, sponsored by University of Minnesota. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to female participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-01-08.
Sponsored by University of Minnesota · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
To discover if a positive description of the procedure for an epidural can reduce the overall pain score associated with the procedure.
The study intervention consists of two separate scripts read to the patient by the anesthesiologist performing their labor epidural. One script will contain the wording "Poke and a burn" prior to subcutaneous local anesthetic administration for the epidural placement and one will contain "this is numbing medication, which will make the rest of the procedure go easier". There will be no difference in the epidural placement, medications, or the rest of the script.
University of Minnesota is the lead sponsor of 1,184 studies on the registry; 195 are open to participants now.
Of its 132 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 91 (69%) have results posted.
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Exclusion Criteria:
Participants in this group will receive the control treatment
Behavioral: Negative Connotation Langauge
Participants in this group will receive the experimental treatment.
Behavioral: Positive Connotation Language
The study intervention consists of two separate scripts read to the patient by the anesthesiologist performing their labor epidural. The control script includes language containing the wording "Poke and a burn" said prior to numbing medication for the epidural procedure. There will be no difference in the epidural placement, medications, or the rest of the script.
The study intervention consists of two separate scripts read to the patient by the anesthesiologist performing their labor epidural. The experimental script includes language containing the wording "this is numbing medication, which will make the rest of the procedure go easier" said prior to numbing medication for the epidural procedure. There will be no difference in the epidural placement, medications, or the rest of the script.
Max pain score during the epidural procedure
Maximum pain score will be measured using a single 11-point Numeric Rating Scale 0-10, where 0 is no pain and 10 is maximum imaginable pain.
Time frame: 1 hour
Overall satisfaction during the epidural procedure
Overall satisfaction during the epidural procedure will be measured used a 5-point likert scale: 5=very satisfied, 4=satisfied, 3=neither satisfied or dissatisfied, 2=dissatisfied, 1=very dissatisfied.
Time frame: 1 hour
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