Chronic Pain
Neurofeedback for Chronic Pain: Meta-Analysis
Grade B+Systematic review and meta-analysis2020
What did this study find?
Twenty-one studies of EEG and fMRI neurofeedback for chronic pain were pooled in this 2020 analysis. Reported pain reduction ranged widely, from six to eighty-two percent, with ten studies clearing the thirty percent threshold considered clinically meaningful. The overall effect was medium. Wide variation across protocols makes individual outcomes hard to predict.
What are the details of this record?
- Full citation
- Roy R, et al. Effects of neurofeedback in the management of chronic pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Pain. 2020;24(8):1440-1457.
- Journal
- European Journal of Pain
- Authors
- Roy R, et al.
- Study design
- Systematic review and meta-analysis
- Sample size and population
- Not reported in the published record
- Evidence grade
- Grade B+ on the BioReg grading scale
- Reported findings
- Meta-analysis of 21 studies on EEG/fMRI neurofeedback. Pain reduction ranged 6-82%, with 10 studies showing clinically significant (>30%) reduction. Overall medium effect size (Cohen's d -0.76).
- DOI
- No DOI recorded
- PubMed
- PMID 32502283
- Related categories
- Chronic Pain (category grade A-)
A positive PEMF study is not evidence for a specific device unless the signal parameters studied, frequency, intensity, waveform, and exposure duration, are reasonably comparable to what that device produces. Where this record does not list those parameters, the source report did not publish them. See the grading methodology. Library last reviewed 2026-08-27.