# Optimizing Psychosocial Treatment of Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome

> **NIH NIH K23** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · $185,395

## Abstract

ABSTRACT:
This career development K23 award will establish me as a clinician-investigator focused on the
development, evaluation, and dissemination of evidence-based psychosocial treatment for interstitial
cystitis/bladder pain syndrome and related pain syndromes. My proposal targets development in four
primary areas: 1) implementation of clinical trials, 2) content expertise in pain mechanisms and
psychophysical testing to examine patient phenotype, 3) advanced quantitative methods and 4)
advanced clinical expertise in interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). To achieve these
goals, I have assembled a multidisciplinary mentorship team with internationally-recognized
experience in clinical trials, psychosocial intervention in pain, urologic disease, and psychophysical
testing. Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) is a debilitating, incurable, and costly pain
condition affecting approximately 3-8 million individuals in the United States and is extremely
challenging to treat. Evidence suggests psychosocial factors accompany and intensify the illness.
Unaddressed psychosocial co-morbidities are associated with reduced functionality and poorer
outcomes, which suggests that psychosocial symptoms and bladder-specific symptoms reinforce each
other. While psychosocial self-management interventions have demonstrated efficacy for other pain
conditions, the IC/BPS field lacks the gold standard – randomized controlled trials – studying these
interventions. At the same time, the chronic pain field is adopting a new approach driven by
mechanisms of illness and treatment. Growing evidence suggests that subgroups (called
“phenotypes”) of patients with IC/BPS respond differently to medical intervention. Presence of central
sensitization (CS) largely defines patient subgroups and may be a biological factor affecting response
to medical treatment. The overall goal of this project is to fully develop, optimize, and evaluate a
patient-centered CBT self-management intervention specific to IC/BPS. To achieve this goal, we will
develop (Aim 1) and test (Aim 2) an empirically-based psychosocial treatment for IC/BPS compared to
attention control, while examining pain mechanisms and subgroup characteristics that may alter
treatment response (Aim 3). We hypothesize that a) inclusion of a self-management intervention will
be more effective than a control treatment for IC/BPS, and that b) treatment effects will be moderated
by degree of psychological co-morbidity, presence of chronic overlapping pain conditions, and
elevated central sensitization. Successful completion of these aims will determine whether the addition
of a tailored self-management intervention for IC/BPS will improve outcomes compared to control,
whether particular subgroups are more responsive to this intervention, and whether a biological
mechanism (CS) influences treatment responsiveness. This career development award will assure that
I am well-positioned to conduct a large cli...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10135682
- **Project number:** 5K23DK118118-03
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Lindsey Colman McKernan
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $185,395
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-05-13 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10135682

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10135682, Optimizing Psychosocial Treatment of Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome (5K23DK118118-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10135682. Licensed CC0.

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