In a randomized clinical trial, veterans with chronic pain who completed either a group or self-paced telehealth mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) reported greater improvements in pain-related function and several biopsychosocial outcomes compared to those receiving usual care. Averaged across 10 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year, pain interference scores were lower for both MBI groups than for the control group (group MBI difference -0.4; self-paced difference -0.7). Both MBIs also improved pain intensity, physical function, fatigue, sleep disturbance, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. The two MBI formats did not differ significantly from each other, suggesting scalable telehealth options may aid implementation.
This paper describes the protocol for a four-site, three-arm pragmatic randomized controlled trial called Learning to Apply Mindfulness to Pain (LAMP), which will test two delivery methods of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for Veterans with chronic pain and mental health comorbidities. The two interventions are Mobile+Group LAMP, which combines prerecorded mindfulness modules with online group discussions, and Mobile LAMP, which uses only the prerecorded modules without a group component. The trial will compare each intervention against usual care, measuring pain interference at 10 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months, and will also examine secondary outcomes like PTSD and depression, including gender-specific analyses.