Recruiting

Auricular Point Acupressure

Sponsor:

The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Code:

NCT07179016

Conditions

Chronic Pain (Back / Neck)

Chronic Pain Management

Chronic Knee Pain

Joint Pain

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Auricular Point Acupressure (APA) - Self Management (SM)

Education Control

Study Details

Brief summary:

The investigators will test an Auricular Point Acupressure Self-Management (APA-SM) program integrated into rural primary and specialty care and rural communities for chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP). To maximize self-management of pain, the investigators developed a smartphone app which will allow the participants to learn to self-administer APA. The investigators will have 3 arms (APA-SM self-guided with remote training, APA-SM with in-person training, and Education Control) with 231 participants per arm (total=693 for 3 arms). The investigators will evaluate the clinical effectiveness of our 4-week APA-SM intervention compared to control in primary outcomes (pain intensity, pain interference, activity), secondary outcomes (HEAL Clinical Pain Core common data elements), and analgesic use up to 6 months follow-up.

Conditions

Chronic Pain (Back / Neck)

Chronic Pain Management

Chronic Knee Pain

Joint Pain

Study ID

NCT07179016

Start date

Sep 11, 2025

Status verified date

Sep, 2025

Completion date

Aug 31, 2029

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jun 30, 2029

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Receive any pain management for CMP (neck, back, shoulder, hands, hips, knees, feet)
  • Have CMP ≥ 4 on a scale of 0-10 that has persisted for at least 3 months or has resulted in pain on at least half the days in the past 6 months

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Severe ear skin disorder (Diagnosed with conditions e.g., eczema, lupus with skin involvement) which often require medical intervention and severe allergy to tape
  • Inability or unwillingness to provide informed consent
  • Use of some type of hearing aid where size may obstruct seed placement
  • Not living in rural area

Study Design

Enrollment

693 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Remote APA-SM Training

APA-SM self-guided with remote training

experimental: In-person APA-SM Training

APA-SM with in-person training

active comparator: Pain Education

Education Control

Interventions

Auricular Point Acupressure (APA) - Self Management (SM)

APA is a noninvasive and needle-free pain management therapy based on the principles of acupuncture. The APA-SM intervention program is aimed to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain leveraging a mobile app containing APA videos and remote vs in-person guidance or coaching to practice APA based on APA study assignment.

Education Control

Education Control group receive an app but the content will be specific to pain and self-management (no APA content) and they practice pain self-management skills (no APA practice).

Primary outcome measure

  • Change in pain as assessed by the pain, enjoyment of life, general activity (PEG) survey [ Time Frame: Baseline, post intervention (4 weeks after baseline), 1 month, 3 months, 6 months ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Jennifer Kawi, PhD, MSN, FNP-BC, CNE, FAAN

713-500-2293Jennifer.Kawi@uth.tmc.edu

Jungkyung Min, PhD, MS, RN

979-450-2091Jungkyung.Min@uth.tmc.edu

Locations

University of South Carolina

Recruiting

Columbia, South Carolina, United States, 29208

Contacts

Jennifer Kawi, PhD, MSN, FNP-BC, FAAN

713-500-2293jennifer.kawi@uth.tmc.edu

Sarah Pace, PhD

803-220-5294PACE3@email.sc.edu

More Information

Sponsor

The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Last update posted

Oct 1, 2025

Last verified

Sep, 2025

Keywords

  • Chronic Pain
  • Rural population
  • Self-management
  • Chronic musculoskeletal pain
  • Auricular point acupressure

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston on 2025-10-01.