We are excited to share a major new development at Precuro.
Our latest breakthrough study shows that, with just seven simple questions, Precuro can identify two psychological patterns that can shape persistent musculoskeletal pain:
Fear-avoidance: fear of pain, movement, or re-injury leads a person to withdraw from activity and lose confidence in recovery.
Boom–bust: a person pushes hard on better days, exceeds a sustainable activity level, triggers a flare-up, then sharply reduces activity before trying to catch up again.
Fear-avoidance has been recognised in pain research and rehabilitation for many years. Boom–bust is also familiar to experienced pain clinicians, but it is less consistently identified early, often missed altogether, and rarely used to guide a tailored support pathway.
People caught in this cycle may look motivated and high functioning at first. Over time, repeated flares and unstable activity patterns can disrupt rehabilitation and return to work. Pacing and activity management can help break the cycle, but are often introduced only after it has become established.[nhs +2]
From early signal to matched support.
Precuro is the first company we are aware of that can identify both fear-avoidance and boom – bust in one brief, non-clinical assessment — and use the result for individual-level triage.
The seven questions do not diagnose pain, replace clinical judgement, or determine eligibility or compensation. They measure cognitive response patterns that may help explain why people with apparently similar injuries can take very different recovery paths.
From day one, Precuro can identify which pain patients and claims may benefit most from enhanced support. It can then route each person to scalable digital cognitive and behavioural programmes matched to their profile:
Fear-avoidance: support that rebuilds confidence in movement, activity, and recovery.
Boom–bust: support for pacing, sustainable activity regulation, and recovery planning.
More complex profiles: earlier coordinated clinical, psychological, or rehabilitation support.
Pain is real and complex. Precuro can identify modifiable response patterns that can influence recovery, early enough to guide more appropriate support before a manageable condition becomes prolonged and disabling.
Why this expands Precuro’s market
Precuro previously developed a gold-standard tool for predicting cost and duration in stress- and burnout-related cases. That work demonstrated the value of our cognitive-risk approach, but stress and burnout are closely tied to regional insurance and social-security systems. In many markets, including the United States, they are not treated as a distinct insurance category.
Musculoskeletal pain is different. Back pain, neck pain, soft-tissue injuries, repetitive strain, and other musculoskeletal conditions exist in every health system, workplace, disability portfolio, and insurance market. Around 1.71 billion people globally live with musculoskeletal conditions, and low back pain is the world’s leading cause of disability.
This creates a much broader global opportunity: a universal problem, a seven-question early assessment, and scalable digital support matched to individual needs.
What comes next
We are now engaging with pain-rehabilitation, clinical-research, and private-care organisations to discuss external validation and early implementation.
Can seven questions identify who is most likely to benefit from targeted support - and match them to the right scalable intervention - before manageable pain becomes a prolonged, disabling, and costly case?
For customers, this means earlier, more precise triage. For patients, it means support better matched to their needs. For investors, it expands Precuro’s addressable market into one of the world’s largest health, disability, and claims categories.