NCT07217821

Stepped-Care Intervention of Music and Imagery to Assess Relief (SCIMITAR) Trial

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 180 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Th Stepped-Care Intervention of Music and Imagery to Assess Relief (SCIMITAR) Trial. SCIMITAR builds on our pilot study, the Feasibility and Acceptability of Music Imagery and Listening Interventions for Analgesia (FAMILIA), which demonstrated that telehealth delivery of music listening (ML) and music imagery (MI) interventions is feasible and acceptable to Veterans with chronic musculoskeletal pain. SCIMITAR leverages what we learned from FAMILIA into a fully powered trial, harnessing the benefits of sequential ML and MI into a stepped-care, music therapy intervention via telehealth for Veterans needing relief from pain.

Detailed description

More than 100 million Americans have chronic pain. Chronic pain affects 40%-70% of Veterans and is a leading cause of disability, with a substantial negative impact on millions of veterans' lives. Chronic pain is frequently accompanied by psychological comorbidity that adds to patient suffering and complicates treatment. Veterans with pain and PTSD demonstrate greater pain, depression, and healthcare utilization, and patients with comorbid pain and depression have worse outcomes than patients with pain or depression alone. Musculoskeletal (MSK) pain conditions are widespread, accounting for two-thirds of all clinical visits for pain. There is a pressing need to provide effective, non-pharmacological treatment to Veterans with chronic MSK pain. To improve pain-related outcomes, the VA recommends an integrative and stepped-care approach to pain management, including non-pharmacological treatments. The SCIMITAR Trial is a 2-arm, parallel group, randomized controlled trial. After providing informed consent and completing their baseline assessment, participants will be randomized in a 1:1 allocation ratio to a stepped-care music intervention or waitlist control. The study population will include 180 Veterans with chronic MSK pain.

Conditions

• Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain
• Veterans
• Music Therapy

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Stepped-care	Music listening in Step 1 and Music and imagery in step 2

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-08-30
• Primary completion: 2026-01-31
• Completion: 2026-04-30
• First posted: 2025-10-16
• Last updated: 2025-10-16

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States