# A proactive walking trial to reduce pain in Black Veterans

> **NIH VA I01** · MINNEAPOLIS VA  MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · —

## Abstract

Anticipated Impacts on Veterans Healthcare. This project will result in a non-pharmacological intervention to
reduce pain and improve functioning among Veteran in VA care suffering from chronic musculoskeletal (MSK)
pain, by increasing walking. The intervention will be administered by phone to reach patients who experience
barriers to high quality chronic pain care. This intervention is specifically designed to address factors that
contribute to MSK pain among black Veterans; however, we expect that it will also benefit non-black Veterans.
Project Background. Chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain is one of the most common conditions among
Veterans, affecting approximately 60% of those seen in VA primary care. Although perceived effectiveness of
chronic pain treatment is low among all VA patients, black patients are less likely than whites to perceive their
treatment as effective, and are more likely to experience functional limitations due to pain. There is growing
consensus that chronic MSK pain is best addressed by a biopsychosocial approach that acknowledges the role
of psychological and environmental factors, some of which differ by race. For example, blacks experience
greater pain-related fear and lower self-efficacy in coping with pain (psychological contributors), and
neighborhoods that make physical activity difficult (environmental contributors). However, there is a lack of
effective interventions to improve pain treatment among minority patients, particularly those that target
psychological and environmental contributors.
Project Objective. Our long term goal is to improve the quality and equity of pain treatment in order to
improve pain outcomes for all Veterans. The objective of this application is to test the effectiveness of a multi-
component intervention that specifically targets known barriers to effective pain care among blacks Veterans
with chronic MSK pain. Our primary hypothesis is that a telephone-delivered intervention, which emphasizes
walking and incorporates Action Planning, Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
(CBT) techniques, and the use of pedometers, will improve core chronic pain outcomes in black Veterans.
Secondarily, we will determine whether our intervention also benefits non-black patients with MSK
Project Methods. We propose a randomized trial to test the effectiveness of the intervention compared with
usual care (UC) among 250 black and 250 non-black patients with chronic MSK pain. Patients from the Atlanta
VAMC will be identified using data from the recently funded VA cohort study of Veterans with diagnoses of
MSK pain in VA care. Patients will be screened by phone, and, if eligible, will be administered the full baseline
survey. Eligible patients will be randomly assigned to the Usual Care (UC) or intervention condition (IC).
Intervention participants will receive a pedometer-mediated walking intervention that will incorporate Action
Planning and the use MI and CBT techniques. The i...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10016121
- **Project number:** 5I01HX001283-03
- **Recipient organization:** MINNEAPOLIS VA  MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Diana J Burgess
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2015-07-01 → 2020-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10016121

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10016121, A proactive walking trial to reduce pain in Black Veterans (5I01HX001283-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10016121. Licensed CC0.

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