Pain Care at Home to Amplify Function (Pain CHAMP)

This project aims to test simultaneously the effectiveness of telemedicine and collaborative management (TCM) vs. TCM plus Cooperative Pain Education and Self-Management (COPES) on patient level outcomes and the impact of site-tailored Implementation Facilitation to work toward long term opioid therapy dose reduction. Pain CHAMP is a patient-level randomized hybrid II effectiveness-implementation trial comparing TCM vs. TCM + COPES on the primary composite outcome of pain interference and OUD/misuse symptoms.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Chronic Pain; Opioid Use Disorder; Opioid Misuse
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: TCM; Behavioral: TCM plus COPES

Detailed Description

Pain CHAMP is a patient-level randomized hybrid II effectiveness-implementation trial comparing TCM vs. TCM + COPES on the primary composite outcome of pain interference and OUD/misuse symptoms. The investigators have developed two evidence-based collaborative care interventions that use focused resources to assist primary care providers (PCPs) in meeting the two main challenges in managing care for patients on long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) with chronic pain (CP) and opioid use disorder (OUD)/misuse: 1) reassessment of LTOT and switch to medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) as indicated and 2) ready access to evidence-based behavioral pain treatment. Both interventions are entirely virtual and thus serve the needs of many underserved populations. Telemedicine Collaborative Management (TCM) features clinical pharmacists leading LTOT reassessment and buprenorphine (BUP) initiation in consultation with a BUP-prescribing physician. The TCM model is effective in decreasing pain interference, achieving LTOT dose reduction, BUP initiation and continuation, and shows greater patient engagement than the more resource intensive Integrated Pain Team comparator arm. Cooperative Pain Education and Self-Management (COPES), a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) program delivered via telehealth that improves pain interference, improves access to evidence-based behavioral pain treatment.

While TCM and COPES are established interventions, the additional value of COPES-as a behavioral CP intervention paired with the pharmacologic-focused TCM for chronic pain and LTOT misuse/OUD--has not been tested. To advance systems-level approaches to addressing co-occurring CP, LTOT and OUD/misuse, this study will make two important steps forward. First, the investigators will use a pragmatic approach and randomize at the site-level so all eligible patients will receive standard-of-care treatment. Second, the study will train PCPs in how to re-assume care of patients' post-collaborative care to maintain gains made during the intervention/s. To meet these goals, the team of investigators with expertise conducting high-impact CP and OUD research propose Pain Care at Home to Amplify Function (Pain CHAMP) a hybrid II trial to test simultaneously the effectiveness of TCM vs. TCM plus COPES on patient level outcomes and the impact of site-tailored Implementation Facilitation on successful uptake of each intervention with the following specific aims:

Aim 1: Compare the effectiveness of pharmacist-led TCM vs TCM plus COPES on the primary composite outcome of improved pain interference and opioid safety as measured by opioid misuse or opioid use disorder. As secondary outcomes, we will compare groups on alcohol use, anxiety, depression, and sleep.

Aim 2: Evaluate the effectiveness of Implementation Facilitation for TCM and COPES on Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) guided outcomes using mixed qualitative-quantitative methods.

Aim 3: Examine the cost-effectiveness of TCM plus COPES, relative to TCM, on the primary composite outcome.

This study receives support from and included in the HEAL Initiative (https://heal.nih.gov/).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 259
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Arkansas
    • Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, 72205
      • Little Rock VAMC
  • Colorado
    • Aurora, Colorado, United States, 80045
      • Eastern Colorado HCS
  • Connecticut
    • West Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06516
      • VA Connecticut HCS

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Participants:

• Engaged in TCM intervention (with or without COPES)

Providers:

• Engaged with a participating study site

Exclusion Criteria:

Participants:

• Not engaged in TCM intervention

Providers:

• Not engaged with a participating study site

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: TCM; TCM uses clinical pharmacists leading LTOT reassessment and, when indicated for underlying OUD, buprenorphine (BUP) initiation in consultation with a BUP-prescribing physician. Clinical pharmacists will lead LTOT reassessment and, when indicated for underlying OUD, buprenorphine (BUP) initiation in consultation with a BUP-prescribing physician.	Behavioral: TCM; TCM care is remotely-delivered and medium-term (up to 12 months), with the objective of improving CP and OUD/misuse symptoms primarily through medication management.
Experimental: TCM plus COPES; Participants in this arm will use TCM plus COPES that will augment the effectiveness of TCM alone.	Behavioral: TCM plus COPES; The COPES program will augment the effectiveness of TCM alone. COPES is a 12-week, Interactive Voice Response (IVR)-facilitated program of CBT for CP and common sequelae (depressive symptoms, sleep difficulties, low physical activity). Ongoing COPES engagement will be tracked by the COPES system. The primary components of the intervention are: 1) a self-help handbook containing the rationale and instructions for using ten pain self-management skills and their corresponding weekly skill practice goals; 2) a pedometer-facilitated walking program; 3) daily, automated IVR calls to collect pain interference, sleep quality, pedometer-measured step count, and adherence to the pain coping skill practice ratings; and 4) weekly, two to four minute pre-recorded, personalized therapist messages based on participant IVR-reported data.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Proportion of participants achieving improvement in pain interference with no evidence of OUD or misuse	Proportion of participants achieving both improvement in pain interference by using ≥ 1 point improvement in pain interference as measured by the PEG-3 scale and no evidence of OUD or misuse (score 0 on TAPS-2 opioid items and medical chart review shows no evidence).	10 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Mean change in anxiety using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 (GAD-2) questionnaire	Mean change in anxiety post intervention using GAD-2 will be assessed at Day 0 and 6 months post-intervention (10 months). Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 questionnaire is a 2-item validated questionnaire used to screen for anxiety with a range of scores from 0-3. A score of 3 is considered positive for anxiety with lower scores indicating no or mild anxiety.	10 months
Mean change in depression assessed using Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2)	Mean change in depression post intervention using PHQ-2 will be assessed at Day 0 and 6 months post-intervention (10 months). The PHQ-2 consists of the first two questions of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and asks about the frequency of depressed mood and anhedonia over the past two weeks. Each question is answered on a scale of 0-3 as follows: 0 = Not at all, 1 = Several days, 2 = More than half the days, 3 = Nearly every day. Score ranges from 0-6, with a score of 0-2 being negative for potential major depressive disorder and a score of 3 or more being positive for potential major depressive disorder.	10 months
Proportion of participants with high-risk alcohol use assessed using Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-C (AUDIT-C)	Proportion of participants with high-risk alcohol use using AUDIT-C will be assessed at 6 months post-intervention (10 months). The AUDIT-C consists of 3 questions posed to participants about consumption habits that quantifies alcohol misuse. Each question is answered on a scale of 0-4 and total scores range from 0-8. Total scores of 5 or more indicates high-risk alcohol use.	10 months
Mean change in sleep assessed using Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) sleep item	Mean change in sleep post intervention using BPI sleep item will be assessed at Day 0 and 6 months post-intervention (10 months). The BPI rapidly assesses the severity of pain and its impact on functioning. BPI asks the participant to rate how pain interferes with daily activities. The sleep item to be used asks, "Circle the one number that describes how, during the past week, pain has interfered with your sleep", with a scale of 1 to 10, where "0" indicates "does not interfere and "10" indicates "completely interferes".	10 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Proportion of participants on a TCM panel that achieve BUP stabilization	Proportion of eligible participants on a TCM panel achieving BUP stabilization defined as using BUP at least 70 of the final 90 days of the 12-month period following TCM intake assessed by the electronic pharmacy record review.	12 months
Proportion of PCP at each site that prescribed buprenorphine during the study period	Proportion of PCP at each site that prescribed buprenorphine during the study period assessed by the electronic pharmacy record review.	End of TCM implementation (approximately 30 months after start)
Proportion of patient encounters in which individual TCM components were implemented over the intervention period	Proportion of patient encounters in which individual TCM components were implemented by providers over the intervention using the participants electronic health record period to assess implementation.	End of TCM implementation (approximately 30 months after start)
Maintenance of medication management for ≥1 patients post-implementation	Proportion of sites in which the TCM team maintained medication management for ≥1 patients post-implementation using the electronic pharmacy record.	6 months post TCM implementation
Proportion of participants that initiate COPES	Proportion of participants initiating COPES among patients randomized to COPES. Ongoing COPES engagement will be tracked by the COPES system.	End of TCM implementation (approximately 30 months after start)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Yale University
• Collaborators: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: William Becker, MD, Yale University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 16, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 11, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 11, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): April 19, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 30, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 27, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Narcotic-Related Disorders; Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Mental Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Signs and Symptoms; Opioid-Related Disorders; Chronic Pain
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2000031092; 1RM1DA055310-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES

IPD Plan Description

A fully de-identified data set will be shared. The data shall exclude the following direct identifiers of the individual:

(i) Names; (ii) Postal address information, other than town or city, State, and zip code; (iii) Telephone numbers; (iv) Fax numbers; (v) Electronic mail addresses; (vi) Social security numbers; (vii) Medical record numbers; (viii) Health plan beneficiary numbers; (ix) Account numbers; (x) Certificate/license numbers; (xi) Vehicle identifiers and serial numbers, including license plate numbers; (xii) Device identifiers and serial numbers; (xiii) Web Universal Resource Locators (URLs); (xiv) Internet Protocol (IP) address numbers; (xv) Biometric identifiers, including finger and voice prints; and (xvi) Full face photographic images and any comparable images. Additionally all dates of service and assessment will be masked.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No