Effects of Modified TaiChi Exercise on Maternal Stress, Fatigue, Sleep Quality, Biomarkers, and Infant Gestational Age and Birthweight

July 18, 2011 updated by: Taipei Medical University WanFang Hospital
Many pregnant women experience stress, fatigue, and poor sleep quality that may influence infant outcomes such as prematurity and low birthweight through immunologic pathway of biomarkers (serum cytokines and c-reactive protein). In contrast, TaiChi exercise, one kind of physical activity, can increase pulmonary and immune functions and reduce stress may therefore prevent pregnancy complications and further prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes; however, its effects has not been explored in studies. Therefore, this study aims to investigate relationships between prenatal stress, fatigue, sleep quality, biomarkers, and infant outcomes; modified a TaiChi exercise program suitable for pregnant women; and test the effects of the exercise on reducing stress and fatigue, promote sleep quality, modulate biomarkers, and prevent adverse infant outcomes. Infant outcomes in the study will be measured with gestational age and birthweight. The study is a three-stage longitudinal interventional design.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Unknown

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Detailed Description

In the first-stage, patterns of prenatal stress, fatigue, and sleep quality will be investigated by surveying 300 pregnant women who are over 23 weeks of gestation and screen for pregnant women with fatigue and poor sleep quality. In the second-stage, experts in obstetrics and TaiChi will be invited to modify a TaiChi exercise program. Thirty women who experience fatigue and poor sleep quality will be invited to practice the modified TaiChi exercise. Comments from those participants on the program will be used to refine the program and a DVD will be made. After the program is well-designed and recorded, participants recruited for the third-stage study will be randomly assigned to TaiChi or comparison group. They will be asked to complete questionnaires and give blood samples for biomarker tests when they are at 27-29, 31-33, and 35-37 weeks of gestation; in labor; and at 4-6 weeks postpartum. In addition to practice the exercise at home, participants in the TaiChi group will practice TaiChi in groups every month. In contrast, comparison group will be asked to keep on their usual daily activities, no other interventions will be introduced. Phone calls or postcard will be made or sent routinely to participants to ensure their long-term participation. Questionnaires used for the study include 10-item Perceived Stress Scale, Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue Scale, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and generalized estimating equations will be applied to understand predictive effects of maternal stress, fatigue, sleep quality, and biomarkers on infant outcomes; and effects of modified TaiChi exercise on maternal stress, fatigue, sleep quality, biomarkers, and infant outcomes. In addition to develop a modified TaiChi exercise program suitable for pregnant women, the study anticipates that maternal stress, fatigue, and poor sleep quality can predict infant outcomes through immunologic pathway, and the modified TaiChi exercise can reduce maternal stress and fatigue, improve sleep quality, modulate biomarkers, and hence prevent adverse infant outcomes.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Anticipated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
300

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Taiwan
      • Taipei, Taiwan
        • Taipei Medical University-WanFang Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

17 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

pregnant women

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Criteria for participation are women who:

    • are over 17;
    • can read Chinese;
    • are at or over 24 weeks of gestation;
    • pregnant with singleton;
    • are not diagnosed of pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia, preterm labor, preterm rupture of membranes, gestational diabetes, and cervical incompetence before recruitment; and
    • are willing to complete questionnaires and give blood samples.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • pregnant women who do not meet the recruitment criteria will be excluded from the study.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Control Group
Experimental Group

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Taipei Medical University WanFang Hospital

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Szu-Yuan Chou, Taipei Medical University WanFang Hospital

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
September 1, 2010

Study Completion (Anticipated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
July 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
July 15, 2011

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 18, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
July 19, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 19, 2011

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 18, 2011

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2011

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 100005

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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