RCT of a Weighted Blanket to Reduce Pain in Veterans With Chronic Pain (NCT05963607)
🩺 Plain-English Summary (8th-Grade Level)
Chronic pain is a major health concern for returning Veterans and is associated with decreases in quality of life. In addition, chronic pain is often accompanied by significant disturbance in sleep. Sensory interventions may offer effective, low-cost complementary tools for chronic pain and sleep disturbance in Veterans. Weighted Blankets (WB)- blankets sewn with weighted material inside to provide widespread pressure to the body- are a low-cost wellness product used for anxiety and sleep. WBs have demonstrated large reductions in insomnia, and the investigators have also shown that they can reduce the severity of chronic pain. However, effects and mechanisms of longer WB use have not been examined in individuals with pain and sleep disturbance. The investigators therefore propose a randomized controlled trial examining the effects of WBs on pain and sleep quality in Veterans. the investigators will recruit Veterans with chronic pain and sleep disturbance from the VA San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS) and VA San Francisco Healthcare System (VASFHS) and randomize 160 Veterans to receive either a light (3-lb; N = 80) or heavy (15-lb; N = 80) blanket. The investigators will remotely collect measures of pain (primary), pain catastrophizing, and pain medication use, as well as sleep disturbance (primary) and sleep efficiency and total sleep time over 6 weeks of overnight home use of the assigned blanket. The investigators will also explore physiological effects of WBs on sleep quality using actigraphy (exploratory) in VASDHS participants. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods will be deployed via smartphone to capture study adherence.
Who can join: To join this study, participants generally need to meet the listed inclusion criteria (5 items) and avoid the listed exclusions (12 items).
Location: VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA — San Diego, California
📋 "Do I Qualify?" — 1-Minute Self Screener
Instant ChecklistCheck every box below. If you can check all of them, you may meet the study's basic screening requirements (final eligibility is confirmed by the site team).
Usually NOT eligible if any of the following apply:
- Exclusion Criteria: Exclusion criteria: Exclusion criteria include only those factors that contraindicate usual treatment for chronic pain, that prevent the Veteran from benefiting from study treatments, or that may interfere with the mechanisms under study:
- Serious or untreated mental illness (e.g., psychosis; PTSD will not be excluded),
- other psychosocial instability (e.g., homelessness), or
- suicidal/homicidal ideation/prior attempt within the past 3 years by the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI)19;
- evidence of opioid use disorder by chart review, or a Current Opioid Misuse Measure (COMM20) score of 9 or both;
- major medical conditions or medical counterindications to use of a 15-lb WB (e.g., self-reported or documented current pregnancy;
- claustrophobia;
- spinal cord injury;
- inability to safely lift 15lb);
- obstructive sleep apnea if untreated, OR STOP-BANG score in "high-risk" category; and
- currently sleeping with a special blanket (such as weighted or cooling blanket).
- Those receiving mental health or other pain treatment will be excluded if there are changes to treatment (either therapy or medications) in the 3 months prior to enrollment or anticipated during the 2-month trial (self-report, confirmed as possible in electronic health record).
🔍 Extracted verbatim from the official NIH eligibility criteria. Always confirm with the study coordinator.
📍 All Participating Trial Locations (2 Sites)
- VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA — San Diego, California
- San Francisco VA Medical Center, San Francisco, CA — San Francisco, California
💰 Cost, Insurance & Patient Rights
- 100% Free Items: The investigational treatment and protocol-required procedures are supplied at zero cost by the sponsor.
- Routine Patient Care: Under federal law (ACA § 2709) and many state statutes, routine care costs are covered during participation.
- Voluntary Participation: You may withdraw at any time without affecting your standard medical care.