Diet Interventions: Remitted and Evaluated as Complementary Treatments for Pain
RecruitingNot applicableNCT05785884
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This study has no listed site in Canada in this snapshot. It is included as part of the worldwide chronic pain corpus.
Brief summary (from the registry)
Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent form of arthritis, a significant cause of disability in the U.S. With an aging population and the rise in obesity rates, the prevalence of knee OA is expected to climb, significantly reducing quality of life (QOL) for those suffering from this debilitating condition. Current national efforts to reduce analgesic utilization highlight the critical need for safe, effective, and accessible alternatives for pain relief. Low-carbohydrate diets (LCDs) reduce inflammation and pain independent of weight loss, indicating that diet interventions offer a non-pharmacological complementary treatment. However, differences exist in metabolism that are rarely addressed in diet intervention studies. Thus, it is important to assess the potential of different diets in a broad population of chronic pain sufferers to determine the potential of diets to reduce knee OA pain. We have shown that a LCD was associated with reduced evoked knee OA pain, daily pain and oxidative stress when compared to either a USDA diet or a diet-as-usual control. Both experimental diets reduced weight to a similar degree, arguing that diet quality was likely the key factor in pain reduction, as opposed to weight loss. However, previous studies comparing diets have utilized diet prescriptions with less control for adherence to the diets. To overcome this obstacle, and in line with our recent work, we will provide all snacks and meals during the diet intervention to increase adherence and retention in the study, allowing for better control over diet interventions and consistency of foods within each study group. We will recruit adults with knee OA (N=200) to complete our two-phase protocol. Phase 1 will involve a 1-week diet run-up that will allow for quantification of pain measures, psychosocial variables (socioeconomic status, nutritional knowledge, proximity to grocery stores, food insecurity), and diet quality to provide a baseline for comparison. Phase 2 will be…
Study details
- Official title
- Diet Interventions: Remitted and Evaluated as Complementary Treatments for Pain (DIRECTPain)
- Conditions
- Interventions
- Behavioral: Diet
- Sponsor
- University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
- Start date
- 2023-02-01
- Primary completion
- 2027-06-30
- Sex
- All
- Age range
- from 40 Years to 75 Years
- Results posted
- No results posted in this snapshot
- Countries
- United States
- Total sites listed
- 1
Eligibility criteria
Show eligibility criteria (verbatim from the registry)
Inclusion Criteria: 1. diagnosis of knee OA 2. pain in at least 4/7 days/week for the past 3 months (pain of ≥3/10 on 0-10 scale) 3. age between 40-75 4. average daily consumption of \>100 g carbohydrates (based on Phase 1 food checklist) 5. understanding of verbal and written English 6. self-identification as either NHB or NHW 7. BMI between 25 and 40 kg/m2 Exclusion Criteria: 1. unmedicated diabetes 2. unwillingness to follow prescribed diets 3. recent weight change (\>4 kg in past month) 4. currently on a diet 5. history of eating disorders or other psychiatric disorders requiring hospitalization within the past 6 months 6. digestive diseases 7. difficulty chewing or swallowing 8. reliance on others for meal preparation 9. cardiovascular or pulmonary disease 10. daily opioid pain medications 11. use of medications known to alter metabolism or digestion (e.g., proton-pump inhibitors) 12. use of anti-hypertensive medications that affect glucose tolerance 13. use of tobacco 14. participation in extreme exercise 15. knee replacement
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov (US National Library of Medicine), snapshot October 2026. Check the registry for current recruiting status. Record: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05785884