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Optimizing Psychotherapy for Older Veterans With Chronic Pain

NCT03918642 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 126

Last updated 2024-11-04

Study results available
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Summary

This study is being performed to compare the effects of two alternate types of psychotherapy, Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET), for chronic musculoskeletal pain in older adults. In addition, the investigators will evaluate which patients respond better to each treatment and further investigate how each treatment works. CBT, which focuses on improving coping skills for pain, is the standard form of psychotherapy offered at VA. EAET instead focuses on understanding how life stress, relationships, and emotions may cause and perpetuate pain.

The investigators are performing the study because pain is a large problem among Veterans. Studies show that chronic pain affects as many as 50% of male Veterans and 75% of female Veterans. The investigators are focusing on older adult Veterans because they have the highest rates of chronic pain at VA, perhaps as high as 80%. The investigators are looking at psychotherapy in this study because VA, the Department of Defense, and the CDC recently recommended psychosocial treatments, such as psychotherapy, as first treatments for chronic pain, along with medications other than opioids (e.g., oxycodone). However, only one form of psychotherapy, CBT, is currently available in clinical practice at VA, and this study may provide evidence for making EAET available to Veterans as well.

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy

Focus on emotions, writing about stress, assertiveness training, role playing new ways to handle relationships, and sharing feelings and experiences with others.

BEHAVIORAL

Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Focus on cognitive and behavioral skills, such as relaxation, increasing pleasant activities, pacing, and changing ways of thinking.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • VA Office of Research and Development

    lead FED

Principal Investigators

  • Brandon C Yarns, MD MS BME · VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, West Los Angeles, CA

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
60 Years
Max Age
95 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2019-05-16
Primary Completion
2023-09-14
Completion
2023-09-14

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT03918642 on ClinicalTrials.gov