Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Private Healthcare Center

February 20, 2018 updated by: Pascal J.D. Grolaux, DO, Kinesis Health Associates

Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation (TaVNS) in Private Healthcare Center: An Open-Label, Non-Randomized Feasibility Study Targeting Anxiety, Chronic Pain and Irritable Bowel Syndrome

This non-randomized, open-label study has the objective to study the effects and feasibility of Transauricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation (TaVNS) for patients suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Chronic Pain (CP) and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) in a private healthcare centre.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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

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.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The effects of TaVNS on GAD, CP and IBS. Participants were investigated during a 4-week period and a 2-month follow-up. Groups (GAD, CP, IBS) were assessed using questionnaires: Anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder GAD-7); CP (Brief Pain Inventory Short Form Questionnaire) and IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome Severity Scoring System). TaVNS was performed using a standard transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) device and ear clip electrodes plugged into the concha area of the left ear. All participants received a bi-weekly 30 minutes stimulation (8 sessions). We defined three different TaVNS parameters for each group in hertz (Hz) and microsecond (µs), (GAD: 20Hz-80µs), (CP: 5Hz-200 µs), (IBS: 3Hz-250µs).

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.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

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.
11

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

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

  • Canada
    • Nova Scotia
      • Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, B2Y 1C9
        • Kinesis Health Associates

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

16 years to 61 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age range 20-65 years old
  2. Patient suffering from either Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Chronic Pain scoring and Irritable Bowel Syndrome from moderate
  3. Patients meet the scoring standard questionnaires: mild to severe
  4. Patient can understand and answer the questions
  5. Patient exhibits symptoms for at least six months

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Reading difficulties
  2. Diagnosed left ear lesion
  3. Measured blood pressure under 100/60 with or without anti-high blood pressure medicine
  4. Active implant such as cochlear implant
  5. Wounds and skin disease in the left ear
  6. Recent head trauma or concussion
  7. Cardiac pacemaker
  8. Severe alcoholism
  9. Left cervical vagotomy
  10. Cholinergic or B blocking medicine
  11. Recreative drugs
  12. Diagnosed concomitant psychiatric comorbidity
  13. Diagnosed concomitant personal disorders
  14. Diagnosed pregnancy
  15. Diagnosed concomitant severe neurological or medical diseases such as neoplasms in activity, neurodegenerative diseases and chronic infectious diseases uncompensated

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

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation
TaVNS 8 sessions, 30 min, 4 weeks GAD: 20 Hertz (Hz) - 80 microseconds (µs) CP: 5Hz-200µs IBS: 3Hz-250µs
Device: Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation

TaVNS will be applied by the TENS 7000 device. The stimulation was set according the group of treatment: (GAD: 20Hz-80µs), (CP: 5Hz-200 µs), (IBS: 3Hz-250µs).

The current intensity was individually established under the pain threshold .The stimulus generates an continous asymmetric biphasic waveform. Ear clip electrodes were plugged in the concha area of the left ear. The stimulation will last 30 min per session (total=8)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from baseline generalized anxiety disorder severity
Time Frame: baseline, 4-week and 2-month follow-up
To assess the response effect of the TaVNS on the severity of anxiety disorders measured by the 21 items self-administered Generalized Anxiety Disorder GAD-7 questionnaire, where scoring scores of 5, 10 and 15 represent cut-off points for mild, moderate and severe anxiety. A response will be considered as a reduced cut-off point from baseline.
baseline, 4-week and 2-month follow-up
Change from baseline pain severity and pain interference
Time Frame: baseline, 4-week and 2-month follow-up
To assess the response effect of the TaVNS on the severity of pain and the impact of this pain on daily functioning (Interference) measured by the 9 items self-administered Brief Pain Inventory (Short Form) questionnaire; from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain), ratings from 1 to 4 corresponded to mild pain, 5 to 6 to moderate pain, and 7 to 10 to severe pain with cut-off points being 4 and 6. Scoring pain severity is the mean of the total pain score out of 10. Interference from 0 (no interference) to 10 (completely interferes), rating mild (<=5), moderate (6-7), and severe (>= 8) with cut-off points being 5 and 7. Scoring the interference severity is the mean of the total Interference score out of 10. A response will be considered as a reduced cut-off point from baseline.
baseline, 4-week and 2-month follow-up
Change from baseline irritable bowels syndrome severity
Time Frame: baseline, 4-week and 2-month follow-up
To assess the response effect of the TaVNS on the severity of irritable bowel syndrome measured by the self-administered Irritable Bowel Syndrome Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS), where the maximum achievable score is 500. Mild, moderate and severe categories were indicated by scores of 75 to 175, 175 to 300 and > 300 respectively, with cut-off points being 175 and 300. A response will be considered as a reduced cut-off point from baseline.
baseline, 4-week and 2-month follow-up

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.
Kinesis Health Associates

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: Pascal JD Grolaux, DO

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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 (Actual)

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.
July 1, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
July 31, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

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.
September 15, 2017

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).
February 1, 2018

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.
February 14, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

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.
February 22, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

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.
February 22, 2018

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.
February 20, 2018

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.
February 1, 2018

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.
  • TaVNS_PHC

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

Undecided

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

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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