Emerging clinical pain research in low- and middle-income settings: towards a person-centred approach

This narrative review explores alternative approaches to clinical pain research in low- and middle-income settings, where conventional randomised controlled trials can be difficult to conduct due to resource, sociocultural and logistical challenges. The authors discuss target trial emulation, adaptive trial designs and trial transportability analysis, before highlighting the potential of single-case experimental designs (SCEDs). SCEDs provide person-specific evidence through repeated measurement across different conditions and may offer a flexible, resource-efficient approach that accommodates individual heterogeneity, comorbidities and cultural context. The review also considers challenges including participant burden, analytical expertise and the need for systematic replication. The authors conclude that building capacity for SCEDs could support more feasible, locally relevant and person-centred pain research in resource-constrained settings.

Click the following link to read the article: https://www.ovid.com/jnls/pain/abstract/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000004063~emerging-clinical-pain-research-in-low--and-middle-income?redirectionsource=fulltextview