Skip to main content
Clinical Trials/NCT03166072
NCT03166072
Not yet recruiting
Not Applicable

Health Education vs Meditation in Irreversible Age-Related Vision Loss Patients and Their Caregivers

Overview

Phase
Not Applicable
Intervention
Meditation
Conditions
Low Vision, One Eye, Unspecified Eye
Sponsor
London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute OR Lawson Research Institute of St. Joseph's
Enrollment
150
Locations
1
Primary Endpoint
Participants screened
Status
Not yet recruiting
Last Updated
2 months ago

Overview

Brief Summary

Investigators aim to assess the feasibility of delivering two augmentation interventions, Meditation and a Health Enhancement Program, for potentially enhancing the quality of life and mental health of Irreversible Age-Related Vision Loss (IARVL) patients and/or their caregivers.

Detailed Description

Using a mixed-method design, a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) study, investigators aim to assess the feasibility of delivering two augmentation interventions, Meditation to Remove Stress and Create Proper System in Mind (MEDITATION) and a Health Enhancement Program (HEP) for potentially enhancing the quality of life and mental health of Irreversible Age-Related Vision Loss (IARVL) patients and/or their caregivers. MEDITATION is a standardized, manualized therapy where participants will be guided by an instructor on meditation techniques, followed by weekly reinforcement sessions. HEP is a similarly structured intervention that controls for several factors experienced in the MEDITATION group, such as group support and morale, behavioral activation, reduction of stigma, facilitator attention, treatment duration, and time spent on at-home practice. Participants will learn about health promotion, including the benefits of a lifestyle of healthy diet, music, recreation, and exercise, but will not learn breathing techniques, or meditation.

Registry
clinicaltrials.gov
Start Date
April 20, 2026
End Date
December 20, 2027
Last Updated
2 months ago
Study Type
Interventional
Study Design
Parallel
Sex
All

Investigators

Responsible Party
Principal Investigator
Principal Investigator

Monali Malvankar

Assistant Professor

London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute OR Lawson Research Institute of St. Joseph's

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

  • Patients with irreversible age-related vision loss (IARVL) and have ongoing significant disability and/or their caregivers who agree to consent.
  • IARVL patients between age 60 to 85 years or caregivers between 18 to 85 years.
  • Deemed competent to provide individual consent to participate.
  • Speak and understand English without requirement for interpretation or assistance.
  • Have no significant self-reported or physician diagnosed mental health disorder other than depressive and/or anxiety symptoms.
  • Have either a minimum of CES-D 20-item scale score of 16 OR a minimum of 8 on the Hospital Anxiety Scale (HADS-A) 7-item sub-scale.
  • Have sufficient hearing to be able to follow verbal instructions
  • Ability to sit independently without physical discomfort for 30 minutes.
  • Willing and able to attend, via Microsoft TEAMS software, the four initial training sessions of MEDITATION or HEP and at least 6 follow-up sessions.
  • Willing to dedicate 33 minutes per day to their assigned home practice.

Exclusion Criteria

  • Inability to provide informed consent.
  • Dementia as defined by MoCA \<
  • Have significant suicidal ideation as per self-report (CES-D = 3 on item question 14 and/or 15).
  • Have severe depression CES-D ≥
  • Participating in other similar studies.
  • Have a lifetime diagnosis of self-reported other mental disorders, including bipolar I or II disorder, primary psychotic disorder (schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, schizophreniform disorder, delusional disorder).
  • Self-reported substance abuse or dependence within the past 3 months.
  • Have an acutely unstable medical illnesses, including delirium or acute cerebrovascular or cardiovascular events within the last 6 months.
  • Have a terminal medical diagnosis with prognosis of less than 12 months.
  • Having any planned changes to mood-altering medications at the time of enrollment for the next 12 weeks.

Arms & Interventions

Meditation

Participants randomized to this arm will undergo the MEDITATION intervention, with weekly training and reinforcement sessions.

Intervention: Meditation

Treatment as Usual

Participants randomized to this arm will continue to undergo the usual standard of care. The usual standard of care for IARVL patients includes no active treatment since eye surgeons have done all that could possibly be done to restore vision.

Health Enhancement Program (HEP)

Participants randomized to this arm will undergo the Health Enhancement Program (HEP) intervention, with weekly sessions identical in structure to those of the MEDITATION arm.

Intervention: Health Enhancement Program

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Participants screened

Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year

Number of participants screened

Participants enrolled

Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year

Proportion of patients and caregivers who enrol in the study after screening

Retention rate

Time Frame: Up to 12 weeks.

Rate of participation retention in the study

Adherence rate

Time Frame: Up to 12 weeks

Rate of adherence to study protocol

Assessment rating and duration

Time Frame: Up to 12 weeks

Proportion of planned ratings that are completed and duration of assessment visits

Intervention cost

Time Frame: Up to 12 weeks

Intervention cost per case

Data quality

Time Frame: Up to 12 weeks

Completeness and quality of final data for analysis

Secondary Outcomes

  • Change in health-related quality of life (HRQOL)(Up to 12 weeks)
  • Number of participants approached(Through study completion, an average of 1 year)
  • Change in vision-related quality of life (VRQOL)(Up to 12 weeks)
  • Change in depression score(Up to 12 weeks)
  • Change in anxiety score(Up to 12 weeks)
  • Change in sleep quality(Up to 12 weeks)
  • Change in community integration(Up to 12 weeks)
  • Change in caregiver burden(Up to 12 weeks)

Study Sites (1)

Loading locations...

Similar Trials