Digital Health Psychosocial Intervention for Adolescent Spine Surgery Preparation and Recovery (SurgeryPal)

January 28, 2026 updated by: Jennifer Rabbitts, MBChB, Seattle Children's Hospital

Effectiveness of an mHealth Psychosocial Intervention to Prevent Transition From Acute to Chronic Postsurgical Pain in Adolescents

This is a randomized controlled trial to test effectiveness of the SurgeryPal intervention vs. education control to improve acute and chronic pain and health outcomes in youth undergoing major musculoskeletal surgery. Youth will be randomized on an individual level using a factorial design to SurgeryPal or Education during 2 phases of intervention: 1) pre-operative phase (4 week duration delivered over the 4 weeks leading up to surgery), and 2) post-operative phase (4 week duration following surgery). Thus there will be 4 treatment arms. Participants will undergo 4 assessments, independent of their treatment assignment: T1: Baseline (pre-randomization); T2: acute post-surgery outcomes (daily assessment of acute outcomes beginning day 1 through day 14 after hospital discharge from surgery); T3: Post-surgery follow-up (assessment of outcomes at 3-months post-surgery); T4: Final post-surgery follow-up (assessment of outcomes at 6-months post-surgery).

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.

Detailed Description

Major musculoskeletal surgeries are associated with particularly high prevalence of both acute and chronic post-surgical pain (CPSP), with 80% of youth reporting intense acute pain after hospital discharge, and up to half reporting CPSP up to one year after spine surgery. Interventions to improve recovery and reduce pain after surgery have potential to interrupt a negative trajectory of suffering and disability associated with chronic pain. Our specific aims are: Primary: (1) Determine effectiveness of a pre-operative mHealth psychosocial intervention to improve acute pain outcomes in adolescents undergoing major musculoskeletal surgery, (2) Determine effectiveness of a post-operative mHealth psychosocial intervention to improve chronic pain outcomes at 3 months in adolescents undergoing major musculoskeletal surgery, (3) Determine the combined effects of pre- and post-operative psychosocial intervention on chronic pain outcomes. Secondary: (1) Determine effectiveness of pre-operative psychosocial intervention to reduce opioid use during the 14 days following hospital discharge, (2) Determine effectiveness of psychosocial intervention to improve health-related quality of life following surgery.

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.
433

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 Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Washington
      • Seattle, Washington, United States, 98105
        • Seattle Children's Hospital

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

12 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Teen

  • 12 to 18 years old at the time of enrollment
  • Undergoing scheduled spinal fusion surgery (eligible indications: juvenile/adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, congenital scoliosis, spondylolisthesis or kyphosis)

Parent/Caregiver

  • Parent or legal guardian of child who meets study criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

Teen

  • Does not speak or understand English
  • Has severe learning disability, cognitive impairment or intellectual delay (i.e. unable to read at 5th grade level)
  • Does not have access to a smart device (smartphone, iPad or tablet; Teens can borrow an iPad from the study team if one is available)
  • Recent psychiatric admission (in the past 30 days)
  • Severe systemic disease (neuromuscular scoliosis, cancer)
  • On a regular treatment regimen for a severe chronic medical condition
  • Prior major surgery (open surgery such as heart, lung, brain, abdominal surgery, or prior spine surgery)
  • Diagnosed chronic musculoskeletal pain condition (e.g. complex regional pain syndrome, fibromyalgia, widespread musculoskeletal pain)

Parent/Caregiver

  • Does not speak or understand English
  • Does not have access to a smart device (smartphone, iPad or tablet)

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: Factorial Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

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.
Active Comparator: Pre-operative and Post-operative Education intervention
This arm receives access to Patient Education intervention in the pre- and post-operative phases.
Behavioral: Education
The patient education website will serve as the active comparator. The purpose is to control for time, attention, and online usage. Youth and parents will be provided access to an education website containing information about pediatric surgery at the same time interval as the active intervention; however, there will be no exposure to cognitive and behavioral coping skills. Similar to the CBT condition, the presurgery period of Education will be administered for one month prior to surgery and the postsurgery period will be administered for one month after the post-discharge assessment.
Experimental: Pre-operative CBT intervention (SurgeryPal), Post-operative Education intervention
This arm receives access to CBT intervention in the pre-operative phase and Patient Education in the post-operative phase.
Behavioral: Education
The patient education website will serve as the active comparator. The purpose is to control for time, attention, and online usage. Youth and parents will be provided access to an education website containing information about pediatric surgery at the same time interval as the active intervention; however, there will be no exposure to cognitive and behavioral coping skills. Similar to the CBT condition, the presurgery period of Education will be administered for one month prior to surgery and the postsurgery period will be administered for one month after the post-discharge assessment.
Behavioral: CBT (SurgeryPal)
The SurgeryPal intervention is a cognitive-behavioral program for youth undergoing major surgery. SurgeryPal is delivered in two 4-week phases: the pre-operative phase, and the post-operative phase. Each phase consists of 3 separate treatment modules for youth and parents, which teach cognitive and behavioral coping skills to target known psychosocial and behavioral risk factors (i.e. anxiety/distress and sleep disturbance) for poorer postsurgical outcomes, and provide training in pain self-management skills. Pre-operative modules include: 1) Preparing for surgery, 2) Coping with stress before surgery, and 3) Getting ready for the hospital. Postoperative modules include: 1) Coping at home after surgery, 2) Return to activities and school, and 3) Long-term recovery. Modules are self-guided and interactive, and focus on phases of preparation and recovery from surgery. The goal of the program is to reduce pain and enhance quality of life following surgery in youth.
Experimental: Pre-operative Education intervention, Post-operative CBT intervention (SurgeryPal)
This arm receives access to Patient Education intervention during the pre-operative period and CBT intervention during the post-operative period.
Behavioral: Education
The patient education website will serve as the active comparator. The purpose is to control for time, attention, and online usage. Youth and parents will be provided access to an education website containing information about pediatric surgery at the same time interval as the active intervention; however, there will be no exposure to cognitive and behavioral coping skills. Similar to the CBT condition, the presurgery period of Education will be administered for one month prior to surgery and the postsurgery period will be administered for one month after the post-discharge assessment.
Behavioral: CBT (SurgeryPal)
The SurgeryPal intervention is a cognitive-behavioral program for youth undergoing major surgery. SurgeryPal is delivered in two 4-week phases: the pre-operative phase, and the post-operative phase. Each phase consists of 3 separate treatment modules for youth and parents, which teach cognitive and behavioral coping skills to target known psychosocial and behavioral risk factors (i.e. anxiety/distress and sleep disturbance) for poorer postsurgical outcomes, and provide training in pain self-management skills. Pre-operative modules include: 1) Preparing for surgery, 2) Coping with stress before surgery, and 3) Getting ready for the hospital. Postoperative modules include: 1) Coping at home after surgery, 2) Return to activities and school, and 3) Long-term recovery. Modules are self-guided and interactive, and focus on phases of preparation and recovery from surgery. The goal of the program is to reduce pain and enhance quality of life following surgery in youth.
Experimental: Pre-operative and Post-operative CBT intervention (SurgeryPal)
This arm receives access to CBT intervention during the pre-operative and post-operative period.
Behavioral: CBT (SurgeryPal)
The SurgeryPal intervention is a cognitive-behavioral program for youth undergoing major surgery. SurgeryPal is delivered in two 4-week phases: the pre-operative phase, and the post-operative phase. Each phase consists of 3 separate treatment modules for youth and parents, which teach cognitive and behavioral coping skills to target known psychosocial and behavioral risk factors (i.e. anxiety/distress and sleep disturbance) for poorer postsurgical outcomes, and provide training in pain self-management skills. Pre-operative modules include: 1) Preparing for surgery, 2) Coping with stress before surgery, and 3) Getting ready for the hospital. Postoperative modules include: 1) Coping at home after surgery, 2) Return to activities and school, and 3) Long-term recovery. Modules are self-guided and interactive, and focus on phases of preparation and recovery from surgery. The goal of the program is to reduce pain and enhance quality of life following surgery in youth.

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
Post-surgical pain intensity and interference
Time Frame: Up to 3 weeks post-surgery
The Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) has 2 scales: pain intensity (4 items) and pain interference (7 items). Items are averaged to yield scale scores, ranging from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating greater pain intensity or interference. The 24 hour (short) version of this measure will be completed via REDCap daily for 14 days post-hospital discharge (beginning on day 1 after hospital discharge, and ending up to 3-weeks post-surgery).
Up to 3 weeks post-surgery
Chronic pain intensity and interference
Time Frame: 3 months post-surgery
The Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) has 2 scales: pain intensity (4 items) and pain interference (7 items). Items are averaged to yield scale scores, ranging from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating greater pain intensity or interference. The 24 hour (short) version of this measure will be completed via REDCap daily for 7 days at 3 months after the participant's surgery date.
3 months post-surgery

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
Change in health-related quality of life
Time Frame: Baseline, 3-months post-surgery, 6-months post-surgery
The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (Peds-QL) 15-item short form assesses several domains of functioning, including physical, social, emotional, and academic functioning. The PedsQL is widely used and demonstrates good reliability for both the parent and child self-report measures. Scale scores range from 0 to 100. Higher scores indicate fewer difficulties (better) health-related quality of life. Subscales of physical and psychosocial health will be used in analyses.
Baseline, 3-months post-surgery, 6-months post-surgery
Change in opioid use
Time Frame: Baseline, Up to 3 weeks post-surgery, 3-months post-surgery, 6-months post-surgery
Youth will report medication use on the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), including selecting medication name from a dropdown list (opioid, acetaminophen, anti-inflammatory, other). Number of days of opioid use will be used in analyses.
Baseline, Up to 3 weeks post-surgery, 3-months post-surgery, 6-months post-surgery
Change in opioid misuse
Time Frame: Baseline, 3-months post-surgery, 6-months post-surgery
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) Adapted National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) Modified Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) Level 2 Tool (Teen Report) recommended by the National Institute on Drug Abuse for substance use screening in adolescents, will be used to assess alcohol, smoking, substance, and opioid use. Additional questions on reasons for misuse (e.g. to treat pain, to get high, etc.) and source of opioids (e.g. prescription, from a friend or relative) will be collected using the corresponding questions and response options used in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Baseline, 3-months post-surgery, 6-months post-surgery
Change in psychosocial distress
Time Frame: Baseline, 3-months post-surgery, 6-months post-surgery
The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Pediatric Emotional Distress Scales include an 8-item scale of anxiety that assesses fear (e.g., fearfulness), anxious misery (e.g., worry) and hyperarousal (e.g., nervousness) and 8-item scale of depressive symptoms that evaluates negative mood, view of self and social cognitions. Response options range from 1 (Never) to 5 (Almost Always). Raw scores for anxiety and depression are obtained by summing the corresponding items' response values, and range from 8 to 40 with higher scores indicating higher distress.
Baseline, 3-months post-surgery, 6-months post-surgery
Change in mental health
Time Frame: Baseline, 3-months post-surgery, 6-months post-surgery
Parents and teens will self-report on the Patient Health Questionnaire-4, a 4 item screening measure of general anxiety and depressive symptoms. Response options range from 0 (Not at all) to 3 (Nearly Every Day). Total scores are calculated by summing items, for a total score ranging from 0 to 12, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety and depressive symptoms.
Baseline, 3-months post-surgery, 6-months post-surgery
Change in sleep quality
Time Frame: Baseline, 3-months post-surgery, 6-months post-surgery
The Adolescent Sleep Wake Scale 10-item version (Teen Report) is a 10-item measure assesses self-reported sleep quality. Scale scores range from 1 to 6 with higher scores indicating better sleep quality. Four additional items assess sleep duration on weekdays and weekends.
Baseline, 3-months post-surgery, 6-months post-surgery
Change in pain catastrophizing
Time Frame: Baseline, 3-months post-surgery
The Pain Catastrophizing Scale - Child Version and Parent Version is a Self-report 13 item measures that assess child pain catastrophizing and parent's catastrophizing about child's pain, respectively. Total scores range from 0 to 52 with higher scores indicating greater pain catastrophizing.
Baseline, 3-months post-surgery
Global pain severity
Time Frame: Up to 3 weeks post-surgery, 3-months post-surgery, 6-months post-surgery
The Patient Global Impression of Severity Scale (PGIS), Teen Report is a 1-item measure that assesses adolescent's self-reported global impression of pain severity. Response options range from 0 (none) to 3 (severe) with higher scores indicating higher pain severity.
Up to 3 weeks post-surgery, 3-months post-surgery, 6-months post-surgery

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.
Seattle Children's Hospital

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.
Johns Hopkins University
Duke University
Vanderbilt University
University of Utah
Connecticut Children's Medical Center

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Tonya Palermo, PhD, Seattle Children's Hospital
  • Principal Investigator: Jennifer Rabbitts, MD, Seattle Children's Hospital

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.
December 29, 2020

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.
December 5, 2024

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.
March 12, 2025

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, 2020

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 16, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

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 20, 2020

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.
January 30, 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.
January 28, 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.
January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

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.
  • UH3HD102038 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

A releasable database for underlying primary data for publications will be made broadly available on the NIH HEAL Initiative central data repository. The database will be produced and will be completely de-identified in accordance with the definitions provided in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The DCC will also prepare a data dictionary that provides a concise definition of every data element included in the database. In accordance with policies of the NIH, the DCC will send the releasable database to the entity determined by the NIH or specific institute to be the repository for data created under the HEAL initiative. The DCC is able to produce a relational database export, or use SAS or SPSS data sets. The DCC will accompany the database with full documentation so that individual investigators will be able to effectively use the data.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

After last subject enrollment and all follow up procedures have been completed, the HEAL Pain Management Effectiveness Research Network Data Coordinating Center (DCC) at the University of Utah will prepare a final study database for the trial, which will then be used for statistical analyses and publication of findings from the trial. The policies for release of this database are in accordance with the HEAL Data Sharing policy as determined by the NIH. Our preliminary plan is to release the underlying primary database at the time of publication of the primary manuscript. The primary publication from the dataset will be made publicly available immediately without any embargo period through the Creative Commons Generic License in accordance with the HEAL Public Access guidance. Additional secondary publications will be deposited electronically within 4 weeks of acceptance into PubMed Central.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Access to the releasable database housed in the NIH-assigned repository will be in accordance with procedures and regulations of the NIH or specific institute. The DCC will not provide any support for investigators using the releasable database.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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