Attentional Bias Modification for Pain: a Systematic Review and Meta-analytic Investigation

Attentional Bias Modification for Pain: a Systematic Review and Meta-analytic Investigation

Despite the increasing need to investigate the efficacy of attentional bias modification for pain (ABM-P) in pain-related situa- tions and organize the accumulating research, only a few systematic reviews or meta-analyses have been conducted so far. This study aimed to confirm the clinical efficacy of ABM-P and to integrate the existing literature. This study followed the PRISMA guidelines. We searched the literature through PubMed, ScienceDirect, the Cochrane library, Springer, and Pro- Quest and also conducted a manual search. A total of 549 works were identified. Eleven articles (12 studies) were included in the systematic review, and meta-analysis was conducted with six articles (seven studies). These results demonstrate that ABM-P is effective in alleviating pain intensity. The effect of the ABM-P was inconsistent regarding emotion and attentional bias. This inconsistent finding implies that ABM-P has a partial effect on emotion and attentional bias.

Despite the increasing need to investigate the efficacy of attentional bias modification for pain (ABM-P) in pain-related situa- tions and organize the accumulating research, only a few systematic reviews or meta-analyses have been conducted so far. This study aimed to confirm the clinical efficacy of ABM-P and to integrate the existing literature. This study followed the PRISMA guidelines. We searched the literature through PubMed, ScienceDirect, the Cochrane library, Springer, and Pro- Quest and also conducted a manual search. A total of 549 works were identified. Eleven articles (12 studies) were included in the systematic review, and meta-analysis was conducted with six articles (seven studies). These results demonstrate that ABM-P is effective in alleviating pain intensity. The effect of the ABM-P was inconsistent regarding emotion and attentional bias. This inconsistent finding implies that ABM-P has a partial effect on emotion and attentional bias.