Feasibility and Acceptability of Group Pain Reprocessing Therapy for Veterans With Chronic Neck/Back Pain (ESPRIT)

July 1, 2025 updated by: University of Colorado, Denver
The investigators are conducting a trial that evaluates the feasibility of telehealth group pain reprocessing therapy (PRT), with no comparison group, for the treatment of chronic back pain in a population of veterans. PRT is a psychotherapy for chronic pain that aims to help patients reconceptualize their pain as a non-dangerous signal. It has been shown to be effective in a previous RCT (n=151).

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

46

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
    • Colorado
      • Aurora, Colorado, United States, 80045
        • University of Colorado - Anschutz Medical Campus VA

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • At least 6 months of back pain with last week average back pain at least 4/10
  • Able to attend at least 7/8 telehealth group sessions
  • Access to safe living space, quite room, reliable internet, and electronic device that can be used to attend telehealth therapy sessions.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Leg pain that is worse than back pain
  • Suicide attempt, SI, HI, or inpatient psychiatric hospitalization in the past 5 years
  • Not receiving/has not received disability or workers compensation related to back pain in the past 2 years.
  • Is not currently involved in litigation regarding chronic back pain.
  • Current misuse or overuse of alcohol or drugs
  • Major surgery or other major medical events in the next 6 months
  • Known vertebral/spinal fracture or tumor.
  • Back surgery within last 2 years
  • Difficulty controlling bowel movements
  • Current or recent diagnosis of cancer
  • Current or recent diagnosis of severe cardiovascular disease
  • Unexplained or unintended greater than 20 pound weight loss in the past year
  • Diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, scleroderma, Lupus, polymyositis, or other specific inflammatory disorders

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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Pain Reprocessing Therapy
Participants will participate in once weekly telehealth group pain reprocessing therapy. Sessions will last approximately 1 hour in length. Group size will be approximately 10 individuals.
Behavioral: Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)
PRT is a psychological intervention for chronic pain patients with a primary nociplastic component. PRT aims to help patients reconceptualize their pain as a non-dangerous signal that is not indicative of tissue pathology or structural abnormality. Through decreasing the threat level of their chronic pain, the pain itself can also resolve.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
PEG-3 Average Pain in last week
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-treatment, and 2-months post-treatment
0-10 scale that asks participant to rate their average pain (0=No pain, 10=Pain as bad as possible) in the last week
Baseline, Post-treatment, and 2-months post-treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Colorado, Denver

Collaborators

VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System

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 (Actual)

April 17, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 25, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

February 8, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 6, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 6, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

May 9, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 3, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 1, 2025

Last Verified

July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 23-1387

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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