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Effectiveness of Ear Acupuncture to Improve Insomnia in Women With Breast Cancer

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Breast Neoplasm
Interventions
Behavioral: Psychoeducation
Procedure: Ear acupuncture
Registration Number
NCT03874598
Lead Sponsor
Universität Duisburg-Essen
Brief Summary

The aim of this clinical study is to investigate the extent to which ear acupuncture has an effect on insomnia in women with breast cancer. It will be investigated whether changes in sleep quality, fatigue, quality of life, stress, and psychological well-being can be achieved. In addition, a proinflammatory cytokine will be meassured.

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
Female
Target Recruitment
52
Inclusion Criteria
  • Histological diagnosed non-metastatic breast CAs (TNM stage I-III)
  • Existing insomnia (difficulty falling asleep or sleeping through on at least 3 days per week for at least 3 months) according to the diagnostic criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5).
  • willingness to participate in the study (at least 8 out of 10 treatments)
  • Signed informed consent
Exclusion Criteria
  • Ongoing or planned chemotherapy, radiation, follow-up treatment or reconstructive plastic surgery during the study period
  • Severe physical or psychopharmacologically treated psychiatric comorbidity that prevents a patient from participating in the study
  • Pregnancy
  • Participation in other clinical trials with behavioural, psychological or complementary medical interventions during the study period
  • Regular use of barbiturates, antidepressants or other sleep-inducing drugs, drug abusus, alcoholism

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
PsychoeducationPsychoeducation-
Ear acupunctureEar acupuncture-
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Sleep Qualityweek 5

Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The PSQI contains 19 self-assessment questions and 5 questions rated by the bed-partner or roommate. The 5 questions rated by the bed-partner or roommate are only used as clinical information and not included in qualitative analysis. The question whether a bed-partner or roommate is present is not included in qualitative analysis as well. The 18 self-assessment items are used to evaluate the sleep quality on 7 domains over the last month (subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, and sleep disturbances, use of sleep medication, and daytime dysfunction). Scoring of the answers is based on a scale from 0 to 3, whereby 3 reflects the negative extreme on a Likert Scale. The total score is generated by the summation of the component scores and can vary from 0 to 21, with a higher score corresponding to a reduced sleep quality. A cut-off score of 5 indicates a "poor" sleeper.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Quality of Life in cancer patientsweek 29

Functional Assessment Of Cancer Therapy - Breast Cancer (FACT-B)

Fatigueweek 29

Functional Assessment Of Chronic Illness Therapy - Fatigue (FACIT-F)

Psychological well-beingweek 29

Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). It measures the 2 dimensions anxiety and depression. Scores range from 0 to 21 with higher values indicate higher distress. Values of \>8 indicate potential subclinical anxiety or depressive disorders.

Stressweek 29

Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Perceived stress will be assessed by the 10-item version of the PSS, rated for the past month on a 5-point rating scale. For the summed items (range from 0 to 40) a higher total score indicates greater stress.

Adverse Eventsweek 17

Number of patients with adverse events and type of the adverse event

Change in proinflammatory cytokineweek 5

Interleukin-6

Expectationweek 0

Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The Visual Analogue Scale is a continuous measurement device on which the degree of agreement is indicated by a cross between two end points. We define the end points of the Visual Analalogue Scale for expectations concerning treatment as "expecting the treatment to be not sucessfull at al" and "expecting the treatment to be extremely successful.

Sleep Qualityweek 29

Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The PSQI contains 19 self-assessment questions and 5 questions rated by the bed-partner or roommate. The 5 questions rated by the bed-partner or roommate are only used as clinical information and not included in qualitative analysis. The question whether a bed-partner or roommate is present is not included in qualitative analysis as well. The 18 self-assessment items are used to evaluate the sleep quality on 7 domains over the last month (subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, and sleep disturbances, use of sleep medication, and daytime dysfunction). Scoring of the answers is based on a scale from 0 to 3, whereby 3 reflects the negative extreme on a Likert Scale. The total score is generated by the summation of the component scores and can vary from 0 to 21, with a higher score corresponding to a reduced sleep quality. A cut-off score of 5 indicates a "poor" sleeper.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Kliniken Essen-Mitte

🇩🇪

Essen, NRW, Germany

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