Matching Veterans with Chronic Pain to the Most Helpful Treatment

Optimizing Response to Chronic Pain Treatments in Veterans: Identifying Key Moderators

NIH-funded research University of Washington · NIH-11370774

This project will try to match veterans with chronic pain to one of three non-drug therapies—CBT, mindfulness-based therapy, or hypnotic cognitive therapy—to see who benefits most.

Quick facts

Grant typeR01 grant
Study typeNIH-funded research
Funding institutionUniversity of Washington NIH-funded
Lab location1 site (Seattle, United States)
Project IDNIH-11370774 on NIH RePORTER

What this research studies

You would be randomized to one of four groups: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), hypnotic cognitive therapy (HYP-CT), or usual care. Before treatment, the team will collect information about your pain, mood, and other personal characteristics. Researchers will analyze which baseline features predict better responses to each therapy and build algorithms to guide future patient-treatment matching. The trial is conducted through the University of Washington and focuses on Veterans with ongoing chronic pain.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: Veterans with persistent chronic pain who are willing to try non-pharmacological therapies and participate in a randomized trial are the ideal candidates.

Not a fit: People who need urgent surgical or medical intervention for their pain, are not Veterans, or cannot attend or engage in therapy sessions may not benefit from joining this project.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help Veterans get the non-drug pain treatment most likely to reduce their pain and improve daily function.

How similar studies have performed: CBT, MBCT, and HYP-CT have each shown benefits for some people with chronic pain, but using pre-treatment patient factors to reliably match individuals to the best therapy is a newer approach with limited prior testing.

Where this research is happening

Seattle, United States

Researchers

About this research

  1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
  2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
  3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.
Last reviewed 2026-06-13 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.