Health Services Research & Development

• Gibson CJ, Li Y, Bertenthal D, Huang AJ, Seal KH. Menopause symptoms and chronic pain in a national sample of midlife women veterans. Menopause (New York, N.Y.). 2019 Jul 1; 26(7):708-713.
• Herman PM, Yuan AH, Cefalu MS, Chu K, Zeng Q, Marshall N, Lorenz KA, Taylor SL. The use of complementary and integrative health approaches for chronic musculoskeletal pain in younger US Veterans: An economic evaluation. PLoS ONE. 2019 Jun 5; 14(6):e0217831.
• Allen KD, Somers TJ, Campbell LC, Arbeeva L, Coffman CJ, Cené CW, Oddone EZ, Keefe FJ. Pain coping skills training for African Americans with osteoarthritis: results of a randomized controlled trial. Pain. 2019 Jun 1; 160(6):1297-1307.
• Aftab H, Fagerland MW, Gondal G, Ghanima W, Olsen MK, Nordby T. Pain and nausea after bariatric surgery with total intravenous anesthesia versus desflurane anesthesia: a double blind, randomized, controlled trial. Surgery for obesity and related diseases : official journal of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery. 2019 May 14.
• Herr K, Sefcik JS, Neradilek MB, Hilgeman MM, Nash P, Ersek M. Psychometric Evaluation of the MOBID Dementia Pain Scale in U.S. Nursing Homes. Pain Management Nursing : Official Journal of The American Society of Pain Management Nurses. 2019 Jun 1; 20(3):253-260.

» View more Citations

• Strategies VA Clinicians Use to Structure Difficult Conversations Regarding Opioid Prescribing
  This study aimed to identify and describe clinicians’ strategies for managing prescription opioid misuse and aberrant behaviors among patients prescribed long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) for chronic pain. Interview results identified challenges faced by clinicians in navigating conversations about opioid management, stemming from patient dissatisfaction and clinician ambivalence about enacting guid...
  
  Date: July 1, 2019
• Opioid Prescribing Safety Initiative Effective in Decreasing Rates of Opioid Prescribing for Older Veterans with Osteoarthritis
  Investigators in this study examined national trends in opioid and non-opioid analgesic prescribing before and after implementation of VA’s Opioid Safety Initiative (OSI). Findings showed that before OSI implementation, total analgesic prescriptions showed a steady rise, which abruptly decreased to a flat trajectory after the OSI was implemented. This trend was primarily due to a decrease in opioi...
  
  Date: June 1, 2019
• Substantial Variation in Opioid Prescribing Rates among ED Providers in the Same VA Healthcare Facility
  The study team examined the extent to which variation in individual ED physicians’ opioid prescribing was independently associated with long-term opioid use in Veterans. Using VA data, investigators identified Veterans with an index ED visit at any VA facility in 2012 – and who were opioid naïve (without opioid prescriptions in the prior 6 months). Findings showed that there was a three-fold varia...
  
  Date: May 29, 2019
• Rural and Western Region Veterans Prescribed More Opioids Than Urban, Other Regions
  This study sought to characterize regional variation in opioid prescribing across VA and examine prescribing differences between rural and urban Veterans. Findings showed substantial rural-urban variation in VA opioid prescribing, with rural Veterans receiving over 30% more opioids than their urban counterparts, with most of the difference attributable to long-term use. Utilization was lowest in t...
  
  Date: May 21, 2019
• Many VA Patients Use and are Interested in Learning More about Complementary and Integrated Health Options
  In part to guide the expansion of evidence-based complementary and integrative health (CIH), VA leaders sought current information on Veterans’ interest in and use of various CIH approaches, both inside and outside the VA healthcare system. Thus, investigators in this study analyzed survey results from a large sample of Veterans on their interest in, use of, and satisfactions with 26 CIH approache...
  
  Date: April 22, 2019

» View more Publication Briefs

» View more Studies

• FORUM, Spring 2016: Chronic pain, opioids
  ...Pain and the Science of Pain Management by Rollin M. Gallagher, MD, MPH, National Director for Pain Management, Veterans Health Administration...
  
  
• Mapping the Evidence: Sex Effects in High-impact Conditions for Women Veterans - Depression, Diabetes, and Chronic Pain
  ...Mapping the Evidence: Sex Effects in High-impact Conditions for Women Veterans Depression, Diabetes, and Chronic Pain Mapping the Evidence:...
  
  
• Pain in Patients with Polytrauma
  ...assessment tools been developed to measure pain intensity and pain-related functional interference among patients with cognitive deficits due...
  
  
• Assessment and Management of Acute Pain in Adult Medical Inpatients
  ...survey, 43% of medical ward patients experienced pain, and 12% reported unbearable pain. There are currently no pain-relevant performance measures...
  
  
• ESP Report: Massage for Pain: An Evidence Map
  ...ESP Report: Massage for Pain: An Evidence Map ESP Report: Massage for Pain: An Evidence Map Subscribe to the ESP Report RSS feed Principal Investigator:...
  
  

» View more Publications

» View more Cyberseminars

Videos

• Using Service Connected Disability Hearings as a Gateway to Pain Management 01/08/18
• Evaluating Integrated Pain Treatment 01/02/18

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.