• Bushey MA, Ang D, Wu J, Outcalt SD, Krebs EE, Yu Z, Bair MJ. Multifocal Pain as a Predictor of Pain Outcomes in Military Veterans with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: A Secondary Data Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial. Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.). 2021 Jul 25; 22(7):1503-1510.
• Steffensmeier KS, Van Tiem J, Obrecht A, Conrad M, Vander Weg MW, Hadlandsmyth K. The Impact of Preoperative Distress: A Qualitative analysis of the Perioperative Pain Self-Management Intervention. Pain Management Nursing : Official Journal of The American Society of Pain Management Nurses. 2021 Jun 29.
• Chen JA, DeFaccio RJ, Gelman H, Thomas ER, Indresano JA, Dawson TC, Glynn LH, Sandbrink F, Zeliadt SB. Telehealth and rural-urban differences in receipt of pain care in the Veterans Health Administration. Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.). 2021 Jun 18.
• Solar C, Halat AM, MacLean RR, Rajeevan H, Williams DA, Krein SL, Heapy AA, Bair MJ, Kerns RD, Higgins DM. Predictors of engagement in an internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy program for veterans with chronic low back pain. Translational behavioral medicine. 2021 Jun 17; 11(6):1274-1282.
• Fritz JM, Davis AF, Burgess DJ, Coleman B, Cook C, Farrokhi S, Goertz C, Heapy A, Lisi AJ, McGeary DD, Rhon DI, Taylor SL, Zeliadt S, Kerns RD. Pivoting to virtual delivery for managing chronic pain with nonpharmacological treatments: implications for pragmatic research. Pain. 2021 Jun 1; 162(6):1591-1596.

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• Research Suggests Battlefield Acupuncture is Immediate but Short-Term Pain Management Tool
  This commentary summarizes work conducted to examine battlefield acupuncture’s (BFA’s) implementation and effectiveness within the VA healthcare system. Findings show that there is some evidence that BFA is a potentially effective, immediate, but short-term pain management tool that can be used in adjunct with other pain therapies. BFA produced a minimal clinically important improvement in pain fo...
  
  Date: March 26, 2021
• JGIM Supplement Features VA Research on Improving Opioid Safety among Veterans with Chronic Pain and Addiction
  In the fall of 2019, HSR&D convened a state-of-the-art (SOTA) conference – “Effective Management of Pain and Addiction: Strategies to Improve Opioid Safety” – to develop research priorities for advancing the science and clinical practice of opioid safety, including both the use of opioid analgesics and managing opioid use disorder (OUD). A group of researchers and VA clinical stakeholders defined ...
  
  Date: December 1, 2020
• Low-Value Diagnostic Testing for Back Pain, Sinusitis, Headache, and Syncope Is Common and Varies Across VA Medical Centers
  This study sought to determine the frequency and degree of variation in low-value diagnostic testing for four common conditions across 127 VAMCs. Findings showed that low-value diagnostic testing for four conditions was common; it affected 5-21% of Veterans, varied 2-to-5 fold across VAMCs, and was significantly correlated at the VAMC level. Applying sensitive criteria, the overall and VAMC-level ...
  
  Date: September 22, 2020
• VA Patients Have Fewer Potentially Avoidable Hospitalizations Post-Chemotherapy than Medicare Patients
  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new quality measure to reduce potentially avoidable hospital admissions among patients receiving outpatient chemotherapy. In this study, investigators used this CMS measure to compare the quality of care received by chemotherapy patients treated through traditional Fee-for-Service Medicare versus VA, using a cohort of dually-enrolled ...
  
  Date: July 15, 2020
• Veterans Reveal Positive Aspects of Routine VA Pain Screening
  Using data from a study that evaluated a strategy to improve the use of the “5th Vital Sign” of pain in primary care, investigators identified 36 Veterans from five primary care clinics and three VA healthcare systems who were interviewed about pain screening. Generally, Veterans believed that routine pain screening is positive. Findings revealed five themes that summarize Veterans’ experience and...
  
  Date: March 6, 2020

» View more Publication Briefs

» View more Studies

• Chronic Pain in Veterans and Servicemembers with a History of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review

  Chronic Pain in Veterans and Servicemembers with a History of Mild Traumatic...Chronic Pain in Veterans and Servicemembers with a History of Mild Traumatic...Kansagara, MD, MCR, Director Chronic Pain in Veterans and Servicemembers with

• Chronic Pain in Veterans and Servicemembers with a History of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review

  Chronic Pain in Veterans and Servicemembers with a History of Mild Traumatic...Chronic Pain in Veterans and Servicemembers with a History of Mild Traumatic...Kansagara, MD, MCR, Director Chronic Pain in Veterans and Servicemembers with

• FORUM, Spring 2016: Chronic pain, opioids

  ...importance of pain research in VHA has never been higher. Defining pain as a public...Commentary Chronification of Pain and the Science of Pain Management Rollin M. Gallagher...Director for Pain Management, Veterans Health Administration Pain hurts. Without

• FORUM, Spring 2016: Chronic pain, opioids

  ...importance of pain research in VHA has never been higher. Defining pain as a public...Commentary Meeting the Challenge of Chronic Pain as a Public Health Problem Erin E. Krebs...Minnesota and Robert D. Kerns, PhD, HSR&D Pain Research, Informatics, Multi-morbidities

• FORUM, Spring 2016: Chronic pain, opioids

  ...importance of pain research in VHA has never been higher. Defining pain as a public...for Veterans with Chronic Low Back Pain: The CAMEO Trial Matthew J. Bair, MD...Indianapolis, Indiana Musculoskeletal pain is common, accounting for two-thirds

» View more Publications

» View more Cyberseminars

Videos

• Using Service Connected Disability Hearings as a Gateway to Pain Management 01/08/18

Podcasts

• Painful Conversations: Pain Management SCAN-ECHO Improves Provider Conversations with Patients about Pain Care 12/20/2018
• Pain Management and Opioid Safety 05/04/2018
• Clinical Dashboard Elements to Improve Chronic Pain Care 07/19/2017

Other Resources

• Learn more about the HSR&D Center of Innovation on Pain Research, Informatics, Multi-morbidities, and Education (PRIME) in West Haven, CT.
• Visit the pain topic page at the VA Office of Research & Development website to learn more about additional pain research in VA.
• Learn more about the NIH-DoD-VA Pain Management Collaboratory.