Management of Chronic Pain and PTSD in Gulf War Veterans With tDCS+Prolonged Exposure

Gulf War Veterans (a DoD/VA defined service era corresponding to the first Gulf War under operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield 1990-1991), especially those who present with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), are particularly likely to experience chronic pain. Veterans with co-morbid chronic pain and PTSD utilize healthcare services at a higher rate than those with pain or PTSD alone. Unfortunately, there are no integrated treatments for Pain and PTSD. Moreover, non-pharmacological treatments for pain such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy are useful in only about 50% of cases. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may be an effective treatment for pain, and has been recently used to ameliorate PTSD symptoms. Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE) is highly effective in treating PTSD symptoms. Therefore, we propose to (a) integrate \& (b) gather feasibility data for home-based tDCS + PE for Pain and PTSD with 15 Gulf War Veterans. The Overall Aim of the present proposal is to integrate, refine and investigate the feasibility (e.g., pilot testing, recruitment, attrition, assessment) of tDCS for treating chronic pain with a best practices evidence-based treatment for PTSD (i.e., Prolonged Exposure: PE) in 15 Gulf War veterans, a group for which both pain (fibromyalgia) and PTSD are particularly problematic.

Chronic pain is one of the most prevalent health conditions among Americans, affecting about a third of the general population. In Gulf War (1990-1991) veterans, chronic pain is even more common, with a prevalence of about 50%. Indeed, the pain-related fibromyalgia diagnosis is part of Gulf War Syndrome and is highly comorbid with other common military service-related health problems such as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Moreover, lack of effective, integrated, and available alternative treatments for chronic pain contributes to the opioid epidemic. PTSD is also highly prevalent in Gulf War Veterans, at about 15-25% of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm Veterans. Moreover, several investigators note that PTSD treatment response is poorer for Veterans who experience chronic pain and for Veterans who served in the Gulf War. The Overall Aim of the present proposal is to integrate, refine and investigate the feasibility (e.g., pilot testing, recruitment, attrition, assessment) of tDCS for treating chronic pain with a best practices evidence-based treatment for PTSD (i.e., Prolonged Exposure: PE) in 15 Gulf War veterans, a group for which both pain (fibromyalgia) and PTSD are particularly problematic. SA1: Integrate the home-based tDCS+PE Treatment. The investigative team is comprised of Pain, PTSD, and salivary biomarker experts who will integrate tDCS into the 12 session PE treatment protocol. H1: The 12 session PE protocol will yield itself well to tDCS component integration based on participant feedback. SA2: Test the feasibility of both the integrated intervention and key study design features, including translational research features such as biomarker assessment in a non-randomized trial with 15 Gulf War Veterans assessed at baseline and post-treatment. Feasibility of the home-based tDCS+PE intervention will be measured in terms of recruitment metrics, assessment burden, successful biomarker collection, specification of biomarker relationship to hypothesized mechanisms of change, treatment attrition, rates of missing data at each measurement time point, participant satisfaction, and ratings of treatment face validity. Post treatment key informant interviews will be conducted where suggestions for treatment enhancement and satisfaction will be systematically collected and analyzed. H2 is given in terms of Specific Pre-Defined Milestones for Success, including: 75% of Veterans experiencing chronic pain (fibromyalgia) and PTSD who enroll will complete at least 8 sessions of the integrated treatment, and both completers and dropouts will offer actionable suggestions in exit interviews for improving the delivery of the intervention. SA2) Feasibility metrics will be acceptable for recruitment rate (two per month), treatment completion of 8 sessions (75%), assessment completion (90%), and good to excellent satisfaction (95%)