The Impact of Group Singing on Patients With Stroke and Their Personal Caregivers

Not Applicable

• Conditions: Stroke and Aphasia
• Interventions: Behavioral: Communal singing

• Registration Number: NCT02328573
• Lead Sponsor: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Brief Summary

The study will focus on the impact of communal singing on patients with stroke and their personal caregivers. Forty post-stroke patients will be randomly assigned to two groups: the first group of 20 stroke survivors and their caregivers (up to 40 total participants) will receive 6 months (approximately 24 sessions) of music therapy. The second control groups of 20 stroke survivors and their caregivers will receive standard post-stroke care

Detailed Description

The study will focus on the impact of communal singing on patients with stroke and their personal caregivers. Forty post-stroke patients will be randomly assigned to two groups: the first group of 20 stroke survivors and their caregivers (up to 40 total participants) will receive 6 months (approximately 24 sessions) of music therapy. The second control groups of 20 stroke survivors and their caregivers will receive standard post-stroke care.

All enrolled participants will be assessed on their mood, past music experience and music genre preference (music therapy assessment). They will complete the abridged Beck (BDI-2-fastscreen) questionnaire, the stoke and aphasia quality of life scale; a Likert which measures distress; the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB); the NIH Stroke Scale (SS); the Figely compassion scale; and the driving scene test (Stern and White); and the Rankin. In additional we will take saliva samples from all participants to measure hormone levels.

Participants can attend zoom or live.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2014-04-04
• Study First Submitted: 2014-06-23
• Study First Submitted QC: 2014-12-29
• Study First Posted: 2014-12-31
• Status Verified: 2025-03
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-03-04
• Last Update Posted: 2025-03-07
• Primary Completion: 2025-04
• Study Completion: 2025-04

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 80

Inclusion Criteria

• Stroke victim, regardless of level of stroke

Exclusion Criteria

• None

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Communal singing	Communal singing	Participants in the study group will join the choir and participate in a weekly hour rehearsal for six months and will be assessed for aphasia, mood, and quality of life outcomes

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in mood and quality of life as indicated through saliva (cortisol and melatonin sampling)	6 months	Cortisol and melatonin sampling will be conducted at baseline and at 6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in language aphasia outcome improvement	6 months	We will use the following scales as 6 month measurements, and will compare these scores to the initial assessments: Speech Therapy Evaluation-Western Aphasia Battery NIH Stroke Scale and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Mount Sinai Beth Israel; 🇺🇸 New York, New York, United States