Recruiting

Observational Study

Sponsor:

Ohio State University

Code:

NCT05776771

Conditions

Low Back Pain

Neck Pain

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this observational trial is to compare the health history and motion capabilities of participants with low back pain disorders to participants with healthy spines. The main question\[s\] it aims to answer are to:

1. Primary outcomes of this research effort include composite measures that differentiate between control and patient populations, predict injury or reinjury risk, identify low back and neck pain patient phenotypes, and evaluate treatment effectiveness.
2. Secondary outcomes of this research effort include an assessment of wearable motion sensor accuracy, characterization of motion assessment utility, biopsychosocial profiling of control and low back and neck pain patient populations, and differentiation of sincere and insincere motion assessment efforts.

Participants will complete questionnaires and wear a motion monitor that will assess your back and/or neck. This session will be approximately 40-70 minutes. The research team will follow up with participants at 3 month, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 5 years to complete a short series of questionnaires and a motion assessment test.

Conditions

Low Back Pain

Neck Pain

Study ID

NCT05776771

Start date

Dec 18, 2020

Status verified date

Mar, 2026

Completion date

Dec 31, 2030

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec 31, 2030

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Controls/Insincere

Inclusion Criteria

  • Age 18 and older
  • Able to stand for 20 minutes
  • Able to speak, read, and understand English

Exclusion criteria:

  • Known pregnancy
  • Currently seeing or planning to see a medical provider for low back or neck pain
  • History of chronic low back or neck pain lasting longer than 3 months
  • Blind or severe uncorrected vision problems that prevent participant from reading a tablet or laptop screen
  • Deaf or hearing problems that prevent the participant from hearing verbal instructions
  • Actively being treated by a medical provider for concussion
  • Known severe spinal deformity requiring medical treatment (e.g. scoliosis)
  • Has been diagnosed by a medical provider with severe vertigo, fainting, narcolepsy, or balance disorders with high risk for falling
  • Any known fractures within the last 3 months that will interfere with the motion assessment
  • History of spine fracture
  • Current condition requiring immobilization or bracing of the spine
  • History of spine surgery (e.g. fusion, micro-discectomy, or artificial disc replacement)
  • History of brain or spine cancer
  • Currently or within the last 90 days, been treated for cancer with chemotherapy or radiation therapy
  • Known severe osteoporosis requiring medical treatment and physician-recommended physical restrictions
  • Current open wounds or medical device entry points where the harnesses will be placed on the neck, back, or hips
  • Current osteomyelitis or spine infection
  • Any other reason that a treating physician, researcher, or participant determines it is unsafe for a patient to perform test

Low Back Pain Patients

Inclusion Criteria

  • Age 18 and older
  • Currently seeking medical consult with primary complaint of low back pain
  • Able to speak, read, and understand English
  • Able to stand for 10 minutes

Exclusion criteria:

  • Known pregnancy
  • Blind or severe uncorrected vision problems that prevent participant from reading a tablet or laptop screen
  • Deaf or hearing problems that prevent the participant from hearing verbal instructions
  • Current low back pain is the result of a traumatic injury (wreck, fall, etc.) that occurred within the last 3 months OR is positive for spine instability with imaging
  • Has spinal fusion across 4 or more lumbar disc levels.
  • Actively being treated by a medical provider for concussion
  • Known severe spinal deformity requiring medical treatment (e.g. scoliosis)
  • Has been diagnosed by a medical provider with severe vertigo, fainting, narcolepsy, or balance disorders with high risk for falling
  • Any known fractures within the last 3 months that will interfere with the motion assessment
  • Any known spine fractures within the last 6 months
  • Known unstable spondylolisthesis (i.e. standing 3mm of movement on flexion/extension film)
  • Current condition requiring immobilization of the spine
  • History of brain or spine cancer
  • Currently or within the last 90 days, been treated for any cancer with chemotherapy or radiation therapy
  • Known severe osteoporosis requiring medical treatment and physician-recommended physical restrictions
  • Current open wounds or medical device entry points where the harnesses will be placed on the back or hips
  • Current osteomyelitis or spine infection
  • Any other reason that a treating physician, researcher, or participant determines it is unsafe for a patient to perform test

Neck Pain Patients

Inclusion Criteria

  • Age 18 and older
  • Currently seeking medical consult with primary complaint of neck pain
  • Able to speak, read, and understand English
  • Able to stand for 10 minutes

Exclusion criteria:

  • Known pregnancy
  • Blind or severe uncorrected vision problems that prevent participant from reading a tablet or laptop screen
  • Deaf or hearing problems that prevent the participant from hearing verbal instructions
  • Current neck pain is the result of a traumatic injury (wreck, fall, etc.) that occurred within the last 3 months OR is positive for spine instability with imaging
  • Has spinal fusion across 4 or more cervical disc levels or an occipital-cervical fusion.
  • Actively being treated by a medical provider for concussion
  • Known severe spinal deformity requiring medical treatment (e.g. scoliosis)
  • Has been diagnosed by a medical provider with severe vertigo, fainting, narcolepsy, or balance disorders with high risk for falling
  • Any known fractures within the last 3 months that will interfere with the motion assessment
  • Any known spine fractures within the last 6 months
  • Known unstable spondylolisthesis (i.e. standing 3mm of movement on flexion/extension film)
  • Current condition requiring immobilization of the spine
  • History of brain or spine cancer
  • Currently or within the last 90 days, been treated for any cancer with chemotherapy or radiation therapy
  • Known severe osteoporosis requiring medical treatment and physician-recommended physical restrictions
  • Current open wounds or medical device entry points where the harnesses will be placed on the neck or back
  • Current osteomyelitis or spine infection
  • Any other reason that a treating physician, researcher, or participant determines it is unsafe for a patient to perform test

Study Design

Enrollment

10500 participants

Anticipated

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

Low Back Pain

Subjects with Low Back Pain

Neck Pain

Subjects with Neck Pain

Control/Insincere

Subjects with healthy spines, who have no neck or low back pain

Primary outcome measure

  • Motion Index [ Time Frame: 2030 ]
  • Patient's Global Impression of Change (PGIC) [ Time Frame: 2030 ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Locations

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

Recruiting

Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43210

Contacts

Principal Investigator:

William Marras, PhD, CPE

More Information

Sponsor

Ohio State University

Last update posted

Mar 27, 2026

Last verified

Mar, 2026

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Ohio State University on 2026-03-27.