A Computer-Based Intervention for Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms

February 6, 2015 updated by: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
In this study 60 people with medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS) will receive either a 6-session resilience skill building intervention provided fully online or a weekly computerized journaling assignment. Both programs can be completed from home. Participants will complete questionnaires both before and after the intervention and changes in symptoms, mood and satisfaction with life will be assessed.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

SUBJECTS: Sixty patients between the ages of 18 and 80 will be recruited from primary care clinics affiliated with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (UMDNJ-RWJMS). Qualified patients will be primary care patients who meet the following inclusion and exclusion criteria: Patients between the ages of 18 and 75 seeking medical care for physical symptoms (i.e., persistent fatigue, pain complaints, and gastrointestinal, cardiovascular or musculoskeletal symptoms). No major medical illness to explain symptom(s) is found after detailed physical and laboratory assessment. Patients with common disorders such as hypertension, asthma, diabetes, low back strain, etc., will be included if in the opinion of the physician the presenting physical symptoms are not due to the underlying disorder. In order to enter the study, patients must meet criteria for at least 4 medically unexplained symptoms out of the 42 somatic symptoms listed in the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) rated as currently present if males and at least 6 symptoms if females (Escobar's abridged criteria). Patients without ready access to a computer and the Internet will be excluded from participating. Also excluded will be individuals with life threatening medical illness, communicative disorder, lack of fluency in English, illiteracy, and major psychiatric conditions including psychoses, bipolar disorder, and alcohol or drug abuse. Patients will be required to add no medications to their regimen during the study period (approximately 6 weeks).

BASELINE ASSESSMENT. After reading and signing the informed consent, all participants will complete a baseline assessment consisting of questionnaires and a measure delivered by structured interview. Questionnaires will include the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS), the PRIME-MD Somatic Symptoms Scale only (SSS), Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and a demographics questionnaire. The structured interview will consist of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI).

PROCEDURES: Subjects will be randomized to one of two groups. The psychological resilience building group's exercises will be posted on a state-of-the-art website known as "Authentic Happiness". Participants will be provided with the web address and shown how to access the site and the Research Portal where the 6 exercises that are the focus in this and other ongoing studies can be found. The journaling group will be instructed to write weekly for 60-minutes about how they used or plan to use their time over slightly varying time frames: 1) over the previous 24 hours, 2) over the previous week, 3) over the previous year, 4) in the next 24 hours, 5) in the next week and 6) in the next year. The journaling participants will use "PowerJournal". PowerJournal 0.2 for Windows is a downloadable program; once downloaded and installed on the computer, there is no further need for an Internet connection. This is a simple word-processing program, similar in style to Microsoft Word.

FOLLOW UP ASSESSMENT. After the intervention is complete, participants will be sent the same questionnaires (plus the Follow-Up Form) as used in the pre-intervention battery by mail and asked to return the questionnaires in the self-addressed, stamped envelope included. We estimate that these questionnaires will take about 30 minutes to complete. This will concluded their participation in the study.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

60

Phase

  • 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

  • United States
    • New Jersey
      • New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States, 08903
        • UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Qualified patients will be primary care patients who meet the following inclusion and exclusion criteria: Patients between the ages of 18 and 75 seeking medical care for physical symptoms (i.e., persistent fatigue, pain complaints, and gastrointestinal, cardiovascular or musculoskeletal symptoms). No major medical illness to explain symptom(s) is found after detailed physical and laboratory assessment. Patients with common disorders such as hypertension, asthma, diabetes, low back strain, etc., will be included if in the opinion of the physician the presenting physical symptoms are not due to the underlying disorder. In order to enter the study, patients must meet criteria for at least 4 medically unexplained symptoms out of the 42 somatic symptoms listed in the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) rated as currently present if males and at least 6 symptoms if females (Escobar's abridged criteria).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients without ready access to a computer and the Internet will be excluded from participating. Also excluded will be individuals with life threatening medical illness, communicative disorder, lack of fluency in English, illiteracy, and major psychiatric conditions including psychoses, bipolar disorder, and alcohol or drug abuse. Patients will be required to add no medications to their regimen during the study period (approximately 6 weeks).

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: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 1
Computer-based exercises to be executed at home.
Behavioral: Resilience Building Exercises
Weekly exercises for 6 weeks
Sham Comparator: 2
Computer-based exercises to be executed at home.
Behavioral: Journaling
Weekly exercises for 6 weeks

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms
Time Frame: Baseline and 6 weeks
Baseline and 6 weeks
Positive and Negative Affect Scale
Time Frame: Baseline and 6 weeks
Baseline and 6 weeks
Satisfaction with Life Scale
Time Frame: Baseline and 6 weeks
Baseline and 6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Patient Health Questionnaire
Time Frame: Baseline and 6 weeks
Baseline and 6 weeks
Health Assessment Questionnaire
Time Frame: Baseline and 6 weeks
Baseline and 6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Afton L Hassett, Psy.D., Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey

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

March 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2010

Study Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2010

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 27, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 27, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

May 1, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

February 9, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 6, 2015

Last Verified

February 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • P15-MUPS-8484

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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