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Mindfulness Interventions and Chronic Widespread Pain in Adolescents

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Chronic Widespread Pain
Fibromyalgia
Interventions
Behavioral: Mindfulness Group
Registration Number
NCT02190474
Lead Sponsor
Yale University
Brief Summary

The primary objective of this study to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a mindfulness intervention for adolescents with juvenile fibromyalgia/ chronic widespread pain and other similar chronic symptoms.

Detailed Description

The primary objective is to test the feasibility, safety, tolerability and acceptability of a mindfulness meditation intervention for adolescents with juvenile fibromyalgia/chronic widespread pain.

The purpose of the program is to test how effective an 8-week meditation and stress reduction class is in helping adolescents with chronic symptoms (including but not limited to fibromyalgia or chronic widespread pain, irritable bowel syndrome, joint pain, chronic fatigue, and others).

Participants will attend group sessions led by an instructor experienced in MBSR in an academic setting. The mindfulness meditation group sessions will take place at the Yale School of Medicine.

Participants will attend 90-minute weekly group sessions and a 4-hour retreat with approximately 6-8 other study participants at Yale School of Medicine. Participants are asked to practice at home by listening to pre-recorded 15-20 minute guided meditations.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
29
Inclusion Criteria
  • 2010 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria based on the Widespread Pain Index (WPI) and Symptom Severity (SS) checklist.
  • Functional Disability Score ≥13 indicating at least moderate disability
  • Average pain intensity in the past week ≥ 4 on a 0-10 cm Visual Analog Scale.
  • Access to mobile telephone/smartphone with text messaging plan in order to receive survey questions.
  • Chronic symptoms such as fatigue, pain, bowel dysfunction, perceived cognitive impairment, or other non-specific symptoms persisting for 3-months or more, severe enough to have led to more than one visit to a medical provider. These symptoms must have not been found to be due to a definable general medical disorder despite adequate evaluation.
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Exclusion Criteria
  • Diagnosis of an autoimmune or rheumatologic disease
  • Current regular mindfulness meditation activity
  • Serious illness (including mental illness/psychopathology) within 90 days prior to screening
  • Inability or unwillingness of a parent to give consent/permission or child to assent
  • Current use of opioid analgesics
  • Current prescription for antidepressant medications
  • Screening positive on the Columbia Suicide Screen (CSS)
  • Active participation (weekly or more often) in a fibromyalgia or chronic disease support group
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Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
SINGLE_GROUP
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Mindfulness GroupMindfulness GroupThese adolescents will be invited to participate in a group mindfulness meditation program based on a protocol refined by the investigative team. The weekly group meetings will be taught by an MBSR teacher at the Yale School of Medicine, with experience teaching mindfulness interventions to adults, children, and adolescents.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Feasibility and retention8 weeks

Feasibility and retention will be assessed after each cohort completes the group sessions. Feasibility of the intervention will be assessed by the proportion of eligible patients approached for the study who consent to participate and the proportion of the weekly sessions that are attended.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Program Practicality8 weeks

Program practicality will be qualitatively assessed. Practicality (ability to attend intervention sessions and practice at home), interest in the intervention, perceived effectiveness, will be collected through brief (15-20 min) interviews following completion of the 8-week intervention.

Program Adherence8 weeks

Program adherence will be tracked by assessing the actual amount of home practice in minutes per week using weekly self-report diaries.

Program Use8 weeks

Program use will be assessed by quantifying the amount of minutes that participants spent practicing MBSR. Participants will agree to receive and respond to a daily question of "How many minutes did you spend practicing MBSR yesterday" delivered by SMS/text message to their mobile telephone.

Functional Disability Inventory (FDI)8 weeks

The FDI assesses functional disability (physical and psychosocial functional impairment) in children and adolescents with chronic pain. Scores range from 0-60, with higher scores indicating greater functional disability, categorized as No/Minimal (0-12), Moderate (13-29), and Severe (30) Disability.

Juvenile Revised Fibromyalgia/Symptom Impact Questionnaire (FIQR/SIQR)8 weeks

The FIQR-C (and analogue SIQR) is a pediatric version of the adult Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire that has been the major physical function assessment in adult fibromyalgia trials. The FIQR has credible construct validity, reliable test-retest characteristics and good sensitivity in demonstrating therapeutic change. The FIQR-C is used to measure subjects' physical function, overall impact of the syndrome, and symptom severity. It is scored from 0 (best) to 100 (worst) and takes less than 2 minutes to complete.

Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) 4.0 (Adolescent Form)8 weeks

PedsQL 4.0 (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory) is a modular instrument for measuring health-related quality of life in children and adolescents ages 2 to 18. The PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales are multidimensional child self-report and parent proxy-report scales developed as the generic core measure to be integrated with the PedsQL Disease-Specific Modules. The PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales consist of 23 items applicable for healthy school and community populations, as well as pediatric populations with acute and chronic health conditions.

Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)8 weeks

The PSS is a 14-item scale that assesses perceived stress of life situations in adolescents and adults. Items are scored on a 5-point scale (0=never to 4=very often). Higher total scores indicate greater levels of perceived stress. The PSS has well-established validity in relation to physiological stress responses, anxiety, and depressive disorders.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Yale University

🇺🇸

New Haven, Connecticut, United States

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