Teleconference Fatigue Management for People With Multiple Sclerosis

February 27, 2013 updated by: Marcia Finlayson, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago

Effectiveness of a Teleconference Delivered Fatigue Management Program for People With Multiple Sclerosis

Approximately 60% of individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) describe fatigue as their most disabling symptom. Energy conservation education involves teaching people with MS different strategies to manage fatigue and reduce its impact on daily life. Despite growing evidence of the effectiveness of face-to-face energy conservation education, not all people with MS are able to access these programs. The purpose of this project is to test the effectiveness and efficacy of a teleconference-delivered energy conservation education program for people with MS. The primary goals of the project are to reduce the impact of fatigue on participants' everyday lives, reduce fatigue severity, and improve quality of life. Secondary goals are to increase self-efficacy for managing fatigue and increase the number of energy conservation strategies used. The study will employ a randomly allocated two group time series design with a wait-list control group, which is one type of randomized control trial. A total of 181 people with MS will be recruited through direct mailing and advertising. The program will be delivered by telephone teleconference by a licensed occupational therapist. Outcome measures will be administered over the telephone by a research assistant before and after the program, at three months and at six months. We hypothesize that: (1) individuals in the immediate intervention group achieve better outcomes than individuals in the wait-list control group; (2) the program leads to significant reductions in fatigue impact and fatigue severity, and improved quality of life; and (3) improvements in the outcomes can be maintained over six months.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

190

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
    • Illinois
      • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60612
        • University of Illinois at Chicago

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 and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • a diagnosis of MS
  • 18 years of age or older
  • functional English literacy (i.e., able to read course materials and carry on telephone conservations in English)
  • Fatigue Severity Scale score of 4 or greater
  • Residing in the state of Illinois

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Short version - Blessed Orientation Memory Concentration Test - outside of normal range

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: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Energy conservation education
Participants received 6-70 minute group teleconference sessions with an occupational therapist facilitator. The intervention provided education, guided discussion, and peer support for learning about and applying energy conservation principles
Behavioral: Energy conservation education
The intervention for this study is a group-based educational program delivered by teleconference to 4-6 individuals with MS by a licensed occupational therapist. The program involves 6 weekly sessions. Each session is 1 hour and 15 minutes in duration. Key topics addressed include: importance of rest, positive and effective communication, modification of the environment, using equipment and technology, setting priorities, and activity analysis and modification. Direct instruction, group discussion, and peer support are key elements of the program. Participants receive a manual with application activities that are completed in between sessions.
Other: Wait list control
Participants received 6-70 minute group teleconference sessions with an occupational therapist facilitator. The intervention provided education, guided discussion, and peer support for learning about and applying energy conservation principles.
Behavioral: Energy conservation education
The intervention for this study is a group-based educational program delivered by teleconference to 4-6 individuals with MS by a licensed occupational therapist. The program involves 6 weekly sessions. Each session is 1 hour and 15 minutes in duration. Key topics addressed include: importance of rest, positive and effective communication, modification of the environment, using equipment and technology, setting priorities, and activity analysis and modification. Direct instruction, group discussion, and peer support are key elements of the program. Participants receive a manual with application activities that are completed in between sessions.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change From Baseline in Subscale Scores of the Fatigue Impact Scale
Time Frame: baseline, 7 weeks (immediate post-intervention)
Fatigue impact was measured using the "Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS)" (Fisk et al, 1994). This 40-item scale evaluates the construct of perceived impact of fatigue on everyday life. Respondents rate each statement using a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 0 (no problem) to 4 (extreme problem). A total score (range from 0 to 160) and three subscale scores (physical - 10 items, score range 0 to 40; psychosocial - 20 items, score range 0 to 80; cognitive - 10 items, score range 0-40) can be produced from participants' responses. Higher scores reflect greater fatigue impact. What is reported here is the mean individual differences in the 7 week post subscale scores minus the baseline subscale scores
baseline, 7 weeks (immediate post-intervention)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Illinois at Chicago

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Marcia L Finlayson, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago

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

November 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2010

Study Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2010

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 26, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 26, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

January 11, 2008

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

February 28, 2013

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 27, 2013

Last Verified

February 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • H133G070006

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.

Clinical Trials on Multiple Sclerosis

Clinical Trials on Energy conservation education

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Uzbekistan

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

3
Subscribe