STEPS: An Efficacy Trial of a Chronic Pain Self-Management Program for Older Adults

NCT ID: NCT05278234

Last Updated: 2025-11-10

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

414 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2022-11-29

Study Completion Date

2026-04-01

Brief Summary

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The goal of this study is to determine whether community health workers (CHWs)-i.e., lay health workers with close ties to the communities they serve - can effectively teach cognitive-behavioral pain management strategies to older adults in a disadvantaged urban setting. Specific aims are: to test, in a sample of 414 primarily African American older adults, whether the STEPS pain self-management intervention, delivered over 7 weeks through telephone sessions with a CHW and mobile health tools, improves pain outcomes at 2 and 12 months compared to a usual care control group. We will also assess the mechanisms by which the intervention may bring about positive changes in pain outcomes. We will use mixed quantitative and qualitative methods to assess participant engagement and satisfaction, and factors affecting implementation.

Detailed Description

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Conditions

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Chronic Pain

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Intervention arm

Participants will engage in a 7-week multicomponent chronic pain self-management program.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

STEPS

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants will initially meet with a community health worker (CHW) for a 1-hour orientation at the participant's home, a Henry Ford Health System site or the University of Michigan Detroit Center, or virtual. The CHW will show participants how to use the web modules. Participants will be given (or mailed) a wearable activity tracker to use throughout the course of the 7-week program. Each week participants will watch a brief video on the STEPS website; they may also be asked to complete handouts in the workbook. They will have a weekly 30-minute telephone session with the CHW. CHWs will review the weekly topic, help participants practice new skills, and set a related goal. CHWs will screen for social needs and make appropriate community referrals. Participants will set walking goals each week, using step-count data from the physical activity tracker. Participants will track daily step counts.

Usual care control arm

After completing the 12 month telephone survey, control group participants will be given access to the online program, a wearable physical activity tracker to use and keep, and will be invited to attend a workshop that provides key intervention content and individualized goal-setting guidance.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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STEPS

Participants will initially meet with a community health worker (CHW) for a 1-hour orientation at the participant's home, a Henry Ford Health System site or the University of Michigan Detroit Center, or virtual. The CHW will show participants how to use the web modules. Participants will be given (or mailed) a wearable activity tracker to use throughout the course of the 7-week program. Each week participants will watch a brief video on the STEPS website; they may also be asked to complete handouts in the workbook. They will have a weekly 30-minute telephone session with the CHW. CHWs will review the weekly topic, help participants practice new skills, and set a related goal. CHWs will screen for social needs and make appropriate community referrals. Participants will set walking goals each week, using step-count data from the physical activity tracker. Participants will track daily step counts.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

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Seniors using Technology to Engage in Pain Self-management

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Community-living
* Have a cell or landline phone
* Self-reported chronic musculoskeletal pain (pain in muscles or joints for \>= 3 months); \>=4 (0-10 scale) average pain level over last week; \>=1 day/previous 30 when pain made it difficult to do usual activities.
* Able to converse comfortably in English

Exclusion Criteria

* Serious acute illness or hospitalization in last month
* Planned major surgery in next three months that would interfere with program participation (e.g., knee or hip replacement);
* Severe cognitive impairment or other severe physical or psychiatric disorder judged by study team to pose significant barrier to participation
Minimum Eligible Age

50 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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University of Michigan

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

NIH

Sponsor Role collaborator

Henry Ford Health System

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Responsible Party

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Mary Janevic

Associate Research Scientist

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

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University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

References

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Janevic MR, Lindsay R, Brines E, Wisdom K, Robinson-Lane SG, Brewer R, Murphy SL, Piette J, Grijalva L, Anderson M, Clement J, Latimer C. A community health worker-delivered intervention (STEPS) to support chronic pain self-management among older adults in an underserved urban community: protocol for a randomized trial. Trials. 2025 Jun 2;26(1):186. doi: 10.1186/s13063-025-08892-w.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 40457457 (View on PubMed)

Provided Documents

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Document Type: Study Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Document Type: Informed Consent Form

View Document

Other Identifiers

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1R01AG071511

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

HUM00206235

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id