Integrated Services for Pain: Interventions to Reduce Pain Effectively

What is the research about? Long-term pain -or pain that lasts for months or years-is one of the most common health problems in the United States. Clinicians often treat long-term pain with opioids. Opioids can help ease pain in the short term, but evidence does not support their effectiveness in the long term. For some people, long-term opioid use can lead to addiction and overdose. People need effective options and support to help improve their function and enjoy life as much as possible. What is the research team doing? This study that compared two programs for helping people living with long-term pain to improve their function while managing their pain. People with long-term pain who had been taking opioid medicines for 3 or more months could be in the study. This study was done at primary care and pain care clinics at 3 health systems in North Carolina and Tennessee. The study team assigned people by chance to one of two study programs: (1) Shared Decision Making (SDM) or (2) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Motivational Interviewing (CBT+MI). Both programs went by clinical guidelines for opioid prescribing. In the SDM program, the patient and clinician worked together to make decisions that were best for the patient. In the CBT+MI program, the patient learned strategies to better cope with chronic pain. The study team compared the two programs by looking at changes in opioid dose, physical functioning, and pain interference over time. They collected information on prescribed opioid dose from electronic health records. People did surveys at the start of the study and at 6 and 12 months. Study data collection is over, and the study team is analyzing data. Results are forthcoming. The study team worked with an advisory group that included patients, advocates, clinicians, and pain experts. The advisory group met with the study team two to three times per year to provide input on the study.