Integrated Treatment for Chronic Pain and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

March 23, 2015 updated by: US Department of Veterans Affairs

Integrated Treatment for Chronic Pain and PTSD

The purpose of this study is to examine the efficacy of an integrated treatment for Veterans with comorbid chronic pain and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is hypothesized that Veterans who receive the integrated treatment will report more positive outcomes than individuals who are assigned to treatment as usual, pain treatment, or PTSD treatment.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder frequently co-occur and are associated with a significant level of affective distress, physical disability, and treatment resistance. However, no empirical studies have been conducted investigating the efficacy of a treatment tailored specifically for individuals with comorbid chronic pain and PTSD.

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral therapy approach for comorbid chronic pain and PTSD. A secondary objective of this study is to examine potential mechanisms of action that might mediate treatment outcome. It is hypothesized that:

1.a) Participants receiving integrated cognitive-behavioral treatment for chronic pain and PTSD will report significantly greater improvements on measures of pain, affective distress, and physical functioning from pre-treatment to post-treatment than participants in the Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for chronic pain, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for PTSD, or Treatment as Usual (TAU) conditions

1.b) All active treatments will be more effective at promoting improved outcomes than Treatment as Usual

2) Participants receiving integrated cognitive-behavioral treatment for chronic pain and PTSD will report decreased symptoms of PTSD from pre-treatment to post-treatment when compared to participants in the other conditions.

3) Participants receiving integrated cognitive-behavioral treatment for chronic pain and PTSD will report greater maintenance of change, and greater improvements on measures of Pain, Affective Distress, Physical Functioning, and PTSD at 6 months following the completion of treatment than participants in the other three conditions

4) As a secondary/exploratory hypothesis, the researchers will examine potential mechanisms of action in treatment.

It is hypothesized that changes in these potential mechanisms will mediate treatment outcome. The proposed study is a four-treatment condition by three-evaluation period (pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 6-month follow-up) repeated measures factorial design with multiple dependent measures. Participants will be 136 patients with co-morbid chronic pain and PTSD receiving care in the VA Boston Healthcare System. Participants in the active treatment conditions will complete 11 weekly outpatient therapy sessions. A clinical psychologist with specialized training in providing both PTSD and chronic pain treatment protocols will conduct therapy in an individual format, 90 minutes in duration. Participants assigned to the TAU condition will not receive treatment beyond that provided by their primary care provider and other healthcare providers. The Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-PAIN condition will follow an adaptation of a manualized treatment protocol used by Kerns and colleagues that emphasizes identifying and modifying maladaptive thoughts and behaviors related to the experience of chronic pain. Participants in the Cognitive Processing Therapy - PTSD condition will receive a manualized treatment protocol that includes several empirically supported techniques including cognitive restructuring, exposure therapy, and skills training. Participants in the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - Integrated condition will receive an integrated treatment for comorbid pain and PTSD including components of the pain and PTSD treatments described above.

The proposed study will address the specific objectives of the National Pain Management Strategy by helping to assure that clinicians practicing in the VA healthcare system are adequately prepared to assess and manage chronic pain effectively, especially when comorbid with PTSD. Knowledge gained from the proposed study could potentially be utilized by psychologists and other healthcare providers across the VA system nationwide who are currently engaged in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy treatment programs for chronic pain and PTSD. Given that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has been shown to be efficacious for pain and PTSD, but not for comorbid pain and PTSD, it is imperative that a new integrated treatment be evaluated that has the potential to address the unmet needs of this large population. Thus, this study will have important implications for the delivery of pain management services to veterans and others with chronic pain and PTSD.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

42

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02130
        • VA Boston Health Care System, Jamaica Plain

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients will be eligible for participation if they have chronic pain, defined as constant pain of at least six months duration with a neurologic or musculoskeletal etiology. Patients must also meet criteria for PTSD.
  • Stability of pain and anxiety medications will be required for two months prior to study entry and during the active treatment and TAU phase.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with life threatening or acute physical illness (e.g., cancer).
  • Current alcohol or substance abuse or dependence. Veterans who have a history of alcohol or drug dependence but who have not had problematic use in the last six months will be included in the study.
  • Current psychosis or suicidal ideation.
  • Individuals seeking pain treatment such as surgical interventions will be excluded.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - Pain
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy targeting chronic pain
Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - Pain
Pain treatment
Experimental: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-Integrated
Integrated treatment for comorbid chronic pain and PTSD
Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-Integrated
Integrated treatment
Experimental: Cognitive Processing Therapy - PTSD
Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD
Behavioral: Cognitive Processing Therapy - PTSD
Cognitive processing therapy
Other: Treat as Usual
Participants received care for pain and PTSD as usual from their Primary care provider
Behavioral: Treat as Usual
Treatment as usual

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Clinician Administered Assessment of PTSD
Time Frame: Pretreatment (baseline), Posttreatment (3 months), and 6 month Follow-up
This 30-item structured interview is designed to assess both the 17 symptoms of PTSD and the 8 hypothesized associated features. The scale yields a dichotomous diagnosis of PTSD, and also provides a continuous score of frequency and severity for each symptom. In addition, a behaviorally anchored probe question is provided for each symptom to increase the reliability of administration. The CAPS has excellent sensitivity (.81) and specificity (.95) (Newman, Kaloupek, & Keane, 1996). For the purpose of these analyses we examined the total CAPS score. Total CAPS scores can range from 0 to 136. Higher scores represent poorer outcome with a score of greater than 50 indicating that a person meets criteria for PTSD.
Pretreatment (baseline), Posttreatment (3 months), and 6 month Follow-up

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

US Department of Veterans Affairs

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: John Otis, BS BA PhD, VA Boston Health Care System, Jamaica Plain

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

September 1, 2004

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2010

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2010

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 3, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 3, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

August 5, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

March 27, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 23, 2015

Last Verified

March 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • D3322-R

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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