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Chronic pain affects more than a third of the U.S. population, accounts for a fifth of all physician visits, and is linked to the current opioid prescription crisis. It disproportionately affects the elderly, minorities, and those with socioeconomic disadvantages. Although poorly responsive to most biomedical approaches, chronic pain does respond to educational, behavioral, and cognitive strategies. However, these strategies have not been well tested in, or adapted to, the most vulnerable populations. Researchers have now conducted a randomized, controlled study of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or pain education added to usual care or usual care alone in 290 patients with chronic noncancer pain (mean age, 51; below poverty line, 72%; o…