Neurofeedback as a Treatment for Trauma-affected Refugees

September 14, 2021 updated by: Mental Health Services in the Capital Region, Denmark

Exploring the Feasibility of Neurofeedback for Trauma-affected Refugees - a Qualitative Study

Neurofeedback (NF) is a form of treatment that can assist individuals in learning to control their brain wave activity. NF-studies have shown promising results in reducing PSTD-symptoms among military veterans, but there are no published peer-reviewed studies with refugees. However, preliminary studies from Malmö and Sydney indicate that refugees could benefit from NF. Therefore, at the Competence Centre for Transcultural Psychiatry (CTP) a longitudinal feasibility study, testing NF for trauma-affected was started. The study contains both a quantitative and a qualitative substudy. In in the quantitative substudy, where a total of 32 participants have been included, the aim was to evaluate the feasibility of NF with trauma affected refugees using a quantitative perspective. The NF intervention offered was 12 training sessions of 12-20 minutes NF, and the outcome measures were self-administered questionnaires and semi-structured interviews collected before and after the intervention. In a subsample of eight participants of those included in the quantitative substudy, qualitative in-depth interviews were carried out. The participants were offered two interviews; one before the first NF training and one during the treatment course. The aim of the qualitative substudy was to evaluate the feasibility of NF with trauma-affected refugees by examining the participants' thoughts and expectations prior to participating in NF treatment as well as their experience with the treatment after a few sessions.

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.

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.
32

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

  • Denmark
      • Ballerup, Denmark, 2750
        • Competence Centre for Transcultural Psychiatry

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

18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Refugee or a person who had been family reunified with a refugee
  • Diagnosed with PTSD (ICD-10 diagnosis F43.1) and experienced a psychological trauma in another country than Denmark.
  • Informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Current abuse of drug or alcohol (F1x.24-F1x.26)
  • Diagnosed with a severe psychotic disorder (F2x) or a manic disorder (F30.1-F31.9).
  • No informed consent.

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: DEVICE_FEASIBILITY
  • Allocation: NA
  • Interventional Model: SINGLE_GROUP
  • Masking: NONE

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
Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ)
Time Frame: Baseline and after 12 weeks
Change in PTSD symptoms measured by the first 16 items in the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire
Baseline and after 12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25)
Time Frame: Baseline and after 12 weeks
Change in depressive and anxiety symptoms
Baseline and after 12 weeks
Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS)
Time Frame: Baseline and after 12 weeks
Changes in functioning
Baseline and after 12 weeks
WHO-Five Well-being Index (WHO-5)
Time Frame: Baseline and after 12 weeks
Change in quality of life
Baseline and after 12 weeks
Hamilton interview-based rating scales for depression (Ham-D) and anxiety (Ham-A)
Time Frame: Baseline and after 12 weeks
Change in depressive and anxiety symptoms
Baseline and after 12 weeks
Satisfaction and Accept-ability Questionnaire (SAQ)
Time Frame: After 12 weeks
Evaluation of the the patients' satisfaction and potential discomfort.
After 12 weeks

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.
Mental Health Services in the Capital Region, Denmark

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Lundbeck Foundation
Jascha Fonden

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: Sigrid Z Hannemose, MD, Competence Centre for Transcultural Psychiatry

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.

Helpful Links

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.
November 22, 2018

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.
March 13, 2020

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.
March 13, 2020

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 26, 2021

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.
September 14, 2021

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.
September 23, 2021

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.
September 23, 2021

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.
September 14, 2021

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, 2021

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.
  • NF

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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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