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The following is a summary of “Longitudinal Utilization of Invasive Pain Treatment Procedures Among Veterans with Chronic Pain Following Use of Whole Health Services and Complementary and Integrative Health Therapies,” published in the February 2025 issue of Journal of Pain Research by Zeliadt et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to evaluate whether Whole Health, a care system focused on non-pharmacological approaches for chronic pain management, was linked with changes in the utilization of invasive pain treatment procedures.
They performed an analysis using VHA administrative data, identifying 53,412 Veterans with chronic pain from April to September 2018. Among them, 584 initiated Whole Health and 3,794 began a complementary and integrative health (CIH) therapy independent of Whole Health (CIH-only). Whole Health services included coaching, personal health planning, and CIH referrals and the CIH therapies consisted of chiropractic care, acupuncture, massage therapy, yoga, Tai Chi/Qigong, and meditation. Propensity score matching estimated rates of invasive pain treatments 0–3, 4–12, and 13–18 months after engaging in Whole Health or CIH-only compared to similar Veterans who did not use either approach.
The results showed 14% of the population were female, 11% had prior spine injections, 3.3% had undergone surgery, and 0.4% had an implantable spinal stimulator. Use of Whole Health was linked to a 42% (−61% to −17%) reduction in invasive pain procedures at 3 months compared to matched individuals who did not engage in Whole Health. This decrease was smaller at 18 months, with a 22% (−39% to −5%) reduction. The CIH-only use resulted in an 18% (−29% to −4%) decrease in invasive procedures at 3 months compared to matched individuals, with minimal differences at 18 months, showing a 1% (−9% to 9%) change.
Investigators concluded that Whole Health care, incorporating CIH therapies, likely helped patients disrupt patterns of escalating and invasive pain treatment.
