New Video Available: High Impact Chronic Pain: Why It Matters for Research and Clinical Care

Watch the full presentation now in the Media Center

In Episode 6 of the Exploring Pain series, host Laura Wandner, PhD, is joined by Mark Pitcher, PhD (Chief of Staff, NCCIH), and Linda Porter, PhD (Former Director, Office of Pain Policy and Planning, NINDS), to discuss how the High Impact Chronic Pain (HICP) framework is reshaping research, clinical care, and policy. Moving beyond traditional metrics like pain intensity and duration, HICP evaluates functional interference across daily life roles. The panel details how population survey design refined U.S. prevalence estimates, why phenotypic stratification strengthens clinical trial design, and how HICP informs whole person care models and national benchmarks like Healthy People 2030.

Key Learnings:

• Epidemiological Refinement: Methodological adjustments in national survey design resolved early prevalence underestimates, establishing a baseline U.S. HICP prevalence of 7.5 to 8.5 percent. Watch to see how population level data informs national research priorities.
  
  

• Trial Protocol Optimization: Incorporating HICP functional criteria enables precise participant stratification and shifts primary study endpoints from subjective intensity scales to multidimensional functional trajectories. Stream the episode to learn how to apply these criteria in study design.
  
  

• Health Policy Translation: HICP provides a validated macro level metric to track population health trends, guide whole person clinical interventions, and optimize resource allocation. Access the full presentation to explore its impact on care delivery and policy.