The NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory is pleased to welcome APA-SM (Personalized Auricular Point Acupressure for Chronic Pain Self-Management in Rural Populations) to its portfolio of innovative NIH Collaboratory Trials. The new project is supported by an award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, with administrative oversight from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.

The APA-SM study team will conduct a pragmatic, hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial of a 4-week auricular point acupressure intervention for self-management of chronic pain in rural communities in Texas and South Carolina. The primary outcomes include pain intensity, pain interference, and function. Key secondary outcomes are based on the HEAL Clinical Pain Core Common Data Elements. The study team will also evaluate implementation outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and predictive factors for treatment response.

Jennifer Kawi, Jane Bolin, and Hulin Wu will serve as the principal investigators for APA-SM. Kawi is a Lee and Joseph Jamail Distinguished Professor in the Cizik School of Nursing at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston). Bolin is Regents Professor Emerita and a senior professor in the College of Nursing at Texas A&M University. Wu is the Betty Wheless Trotter Professor and Chair of the Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, professor of biomedical informatics, and director of the Center for Big Data in Health Sciences at UTHealth Houston.

Funding for APA-SM is provided through the Pragmatic and Implementation Studies for the Management of Pain to Reduce Opioid Prescribing (PRISM) program, a component of the Helping to End Addiction Long-Term Initiative℠, or NIH HEAL Initiative℠, to address the opioid crisis.

Learn more about the APA-SM trial.