Fibromyalgia & musculoskeletal pain
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation and Pain With Movement in People With Fibromyalgia: A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial
An erratum to this article was published (JAMA Netw Open, 1 Apr 2026 ↗)
Primary result · Movement-evoked pain during TENS treatmentResult — go to the resultGroup mean difference −1.2 95 CI −1.6 to −0.7Authors' conclusion
In this cluster randomized clinical trial of TENS in fibromyalgia, TENS meaningfully reduced movement-evoked pain and remained effective for 6 months.
Study context
- Population
- Participants with FM at 28 outpatient PT clinics (mean [SD] age 53 [15] years; 351 [91%] female)459 enrolled
- Participants
- 384 participants
- Comparison
- Outpatient PT plus transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) vs PT only
- PT-TENSn = 191
- PT-onlyn = 193reference
- Primary endpoint
- Change in movement-evoked pain (0-10) from baseline to day 60, rated during a 5-times sit-and-stand task
- Follow-up
- Day 60
Methodological detailscluster-randomized, multicentre, 28 outpatient PT clinics from 6 health care systems, extension phase (PT-only received TENS after day 60), Enrolment February 1, 2021 to September 31, 2024; final data collected March 2025
- Cluster-randomized
- Multicentre
- 28 outpatient PT clinics from 6 health care systems
- Extension phase (PT-only received TENS after day 60)
- Enrolment February 1, 2021 to September 31, 2024; final data collected March 2025
Primary result
Movement-evoked pain during TENS treatment
Group mean difference
−1.2
95 CI −1.6 to −0.7
PT-TENSvs PT-only
group mean difference −1.2 (95 CI −1.6 to −0.7)
As reported in the abstract
Further findings
≥30% reduction in movement-evoked pain (responder analysis)
P < 0.001
| Outcome | PT-TENS | PT-only | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Improvement on Patient Global Impression of Change | 72% | 51% | P = 0.001 |
TENS helpful and daily TENS use · day 180
- Respondents who found TENS helpful
- 217 (81%)
- Respondents using TENS daily
- 147 (55%)
Safety
Serious adverse events
- No serious adverse events
Minor adverse events · entire 6 months
- Participants with minor adverse events
- 109 of 358 (30%)
Original publication
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation and Pain With Movement in People With Fibromyalgia: A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. Published 2 March 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →