Online Yoga vs Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Treating Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

January 27, 2026 updated by: Peter Bayley, Palo Alto Veterans Institute for Research
This study will compare online yoga with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), an established treatment for chronic pain. We will compare the efficacy of the two treatments for reducing chronic musculoskeletal pain in veterans.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study will test if online yoga is not inferior than ACT for treating chronic pain in veterans. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either online yoga instruction or ACT, once a week for 12 weeks in an online group class. They will complete self-report questionnaires about their experience of chronic pain. There will be a 6-month follow up period, during which the research team will check in with the participant to record any adverse events and maintain study contact.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

274

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 Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Palo Alto, California, United States, 94304
        • Recruiting
        • Palo Alto VA Medical Center
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Peter Bayley, PhD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Louise Mahoney, MS
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Elizabeth Walker, MSPT
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Julie Wetherell, PhD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Santiago Allende, PsyD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Dave Clark, MD, PhD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Jessica Lohnberg, PhD

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:

  • Veteran of the United States Armed Forces ≥ 18 years old
  • Chronic pain > 6 months related to at least one musculoskeletal pain-related diagnosis indicated by an ICD-9 or -10 code
  • Minimum pain intensity at screening ≥4 on a 0-10 using the Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale (DVPRS)
  • Not begun new pain treatments or medications in the past month
  • Stable medication regimen for at least 4 weeks prior to entry to the study
  • English literacy
  • Internet connection at home

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participation in another clinical trial, unless given prior authorization from both our research team and that of the other study
  • Back surgery within the last 12 months
  • Back pain potentially attributed to a specific known condition
  • Baseline pain <4 or ≥9 on a 0-10 Numeric Rating Scale
  • Unstable, serious coexisting medical illness, mental illness or psychiatric conditions
  • Attended or practiced yoga ≥ 1 x in the past 12 months
  • Current suicidal intent or plan
  • Has received ACT in the past

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: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Online Yoga
Postures, meditation, breathing exercises
Behavioral: Yoga
A 12-week online yoga course designed to treat pain.
Active Comparator: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Behavioral medicine
Behavioral: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
A 12-week behavioral therapy course designed to treat pain.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain Interference (Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form)
Time Frame: Baseline, End-of-treatment at 12 weeks, and 6 months after treatment
The degree to which pain impacts mood, walking and other daily activities, as measured by the Pain Interference Scale of the Brief Pain Inventory - Short Form (BPI-SF). The BPI-SF assesses intensity and impact of pain on functioning on a 0-10 rating scale, with higher scores indicating greater degree of interference.
Baseline, End-of-treatment at 12 weeks, and 6 months after treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Depression (BDI-II)
Time Frame: Baseline, End-of-treatment at 12 weeks, and 6 months after treatment
Symptoms of depression as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). The BDI-II is comprised of 21 self-report questions, scored on a 0-3 scale, with higher scores indicating more depressive symptoms.
Baseline, End-of-treatment at 12 weeks, and 6 months after treatment
Sleep (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index)
Time Frame: Baseline, End-of-treatment at 12 weeks, and 6 months after treatment
Sleep quality as measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The PSQI is a a self-rated questionnaire that assesses sleep quality and disturbances over a 1-month interval.
Baseline, End-of-treatment at 12 weeks, and 6 months after treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Palo Alto Veterans Institute for Research

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Peter Bayley, PhD, Palo Alto Veterans Institute for Research

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)

January 7, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

November 1, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

November 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 20, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 21, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

November 25, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 29, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 27, 2026

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • BAYNEW0004

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

All demographic, clinical observations, and clinical self-reports

IPD Sharing Time Frame

IPD and supporting information will be available at the end of the funding period. The duration of preservation and sharing of the data will be a minimum of 10 years after the funding period.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Data and source materials will be posted on DRYAD, an open-source tool for data publication and digital preservation. DRYAD provides searchable study-level metadata for dataset discovery. Data will be indexed by Google Dataset Search and other tools to enhance discoverability and will be discoverable online through standard web search of the study-level metadata as well as the persistent pointer from the DOI to the dataset.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ICF

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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