iCanCope With Pain: A Smartphone and Web Self-management Program for Adolescents and Young Adults With Chronic Pain

April 15, 2026 updated by: Jennifer Stinson, The Hospital for Sick Children

iCanCope With Pain: An Integrated Smartphone and Web Self-management Program for Adolescents and Young Adults With Chronic Pain

Chronic pain in adolescents and young adults (AYA, aged 15-25) is a common problem. Pain that is not treated properly can reduce quality of life. Programs to help AYA learn to live with and manage pain are very important. Our team is developing a smartphone application (app) and website for AYA with chronic pain. The app will help AYA to track pain, sleep, mood, activities, and exercise and help AYA set and achieve goals. The website will give information about pain and how to manage it independently. We will build the program and make sure it is easy to use and understand. We will also test if the program can be put into practice as planned and if AYA using the program feel less pain, have less limitations, and a better quality of life.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
302

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Alberta
      • Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T3B 6A8
        • Alberta Children's Hospital
      • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2B7
        • Stollery Children's Hospital
      • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2R7
        • University of Alberta
    • Nova Scotia
      • Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3K 6R8
        • IWK Health Centre
      • Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 2E1
        • Nova Scotia Health Authority/Dalhousie University
    • Ontario
      • Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8N 3Z5
        • Hamilton Health Sciences
      • Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1H 8L6
        • The Ottawa Hospital
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 1X8
        • Hospital for Sick Children
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 1X5
        • Mount Sinai Hospital
    • Saskatchewan
      • Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
        • University of Saskatchewan

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

15 years to 25 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosed with chronic pain of at least 3 months duration according to medical chart
  • Able to speak and read English
  • Willing and able to complete online measures
  • Participants are active patients at pain clinic at one of the respective participating study sites
  • Have been on a stable dose of medications for at least 4 weeks prior to entering the study according to medical chart
  • Have access to an Internet-connected computer according to self-report.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Moderate to severe cognitive impairments, as assessed by reviewing medical chart and consultation with the patient's healthcare provider
  • Major co-morbid psychiatric (e.g. conversion disorder, depression, anxiety disorder) illness that may impact patient's ability to understand and use the iCanCope with Pain intervention via self-report, as determined by their health care provider
  • Patient from the department of haemology/oncology
  • Participated in the Phase 2B iCanCope usability study

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: iCanCope app and website
Intervention: Behavioral: iCanCope app and website
Behavioral: iCanCope app and website
In addition to standard medical care, adolescents and young adults in the experimental group will receive access to the "iCanCope with Pain" smartphone app and website for 8 weeks. The app consists of daily pain symptom tracking (pain intensity, sleep, mood, physical activity, and fatigue), goal setting, in-the moment coping strategies, as well as a social community component. The website provides chronic pain-specific education, self-management strategies, and resources.
Active Comparator: Attention control group
Intervention: Behavioral: Attention control group
Behavioral: Attention control group
The control group is designed to control for the potential effects on outcomes of time, attention, smartphone and computer use during the intervention. In addition to standard medical care, adolescents and young adults in the attention control group will receive access to the "iCanCope with Pain" smartphone app (control version, with limited functionality), and a pain resource website without access to self-management strategies.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Intervention fidelity
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Any issues or difficulties encountered during implementation of the intervention, control strategy, or outcome measures will be tracked throughout the study by the CRPC.
8 weeks
Acceptability and Satisfaction
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Participants in the intervention arm will complete the Acceptability e-scale (AES) post-intervention. In addition, a subset of participants from the intervention group will be offered to participate in a qualitative feedback interview to further explore acceptability and satisfaction of the intervention.
8 weeks
Engagement with Intervention
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Google Analytics will track patterns of app and website usage.
8 weeks
Adherence
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Adherence will be determined using Google Analytics.
8 weeks
Participant Accrual and Dropout Rates
Time Frame: 6 months
This will be centrally tracked by the clinical research project coordinator (CRPC).
6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain intensity and interference
Time Frame: 6 months
Measured using the short form Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), a 15-item tool that measures pain intensity and impact on functioning.
6 months
Self-efficacy
Time Frame: 6 months
Measured with the Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ), a 10-item scale that requires patients to take their pain into account when rating their self-efficacy beliefs.
6 months
Emotional Functioning
Time Frame: 6 months
Measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), a 14-item measure for the assessment of anxiety and depressive symptoms.
6 months
Sleep Functioning
Time Frame: 6 months
Measured with the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), a 7-item self-report questionnaire for assessing the nature, severity, and impact of insomnia.
6 months
Social Functioning
Time Frame: 6 months
Measured with the Perceived Social Support from Friends (PSS-Fr) Scale, a 20-item scale that assesses the extent to which an individual perceives that their friends fulfill their needs for support.
6 months
Health-Related Quality of Life
Time Frame: 6 months
Measured using the SF-36 Health Survey, a 36-item self-report scale with 8 subscales (Physical Functioning, Role-Physical, Bodily Pain, General Health, Vitality, Social Functioning, Role-Emotional, and Mental Health).
6 months
Patients' Global Impression of Change
Time Frame: 6 months
Measured using the PGIC scale, a single item rating by participants of their perceived change during the trial.
6 months
Pain-Related Knowledge
Time Frame: 6 months
Measured using a modified version of the Medical Issues, Exercise, Pain and Social Support (MEPS) questionnaire, a 27-item measure.
6 months
Health Care Utilization
Time Frame: 6 months
Measured using the Chronic Pain Healthcare Utilization Form. (modified from the Ambulatory and Home Care Record)
6 months
Adverse effects
Time Frame: 6 months
Will be tracked using the adverse event form.
6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
The Hospital for Sick Children

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
University of Alberta
University of Toronto
The Ottawa Hospital
Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation
Nova Scotia Health Authority
Dalhousie University
Mount Sinai Hospital, Canada
University of Saskatchewan
Alberta Children's Hospital
IWK Health Centre
Stollery Children's Hospital
Centre for Global eHealth Innovation

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
April 1, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
August 1, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
August 1, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 6, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 6, 2015

First Posted (Estimated)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
November 10, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
April 20, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 15, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 1000047495

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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