Managing Stress and Social Ties for Health Aging

November 16, 2016 updated by: University of California, Los Angeles

There has been a dramatic rise from 46% to 59% in the percentage of households with only 1-2 people from 1970 to 2000. A 40% increase in the number of people living alone is projected for 2010. Social isolation is consistently one of the strongest predictors mortality in older adults. Recent research is demonstrating that stress plays an important role linking social isolation with poor health. Socially isolated older adults are more likely to feel chronically stressed and overwhelmed with everyday life demands. Furthermore, isolated adults respond to stress differently, both psychologically and physiologically. Socially isolated and lonely older adults show long-term elevations in "inflammatory cytokines", which are signaling molecules related by immune cells. These Inflammatory cytokines play a role in a number of age-related diseases including cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes and arthritis. Novel, readily useable interventions aimed at decreasing isolation and "re-calibrating" stress responses might be helpful to older adults.

Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese form of calisthenics that promotes relaxation and decreases feelings of stress and as such, it may be a useful intervention for socially isolated, stressed older adults. However, its effects on stress responses are unknown. Tai Chi Chih (TCC) is a simplified, manualized, readily exportable form of Tai Chi particularly well-suited for older adults. This proposed study will test the effects of a TCC intervention with socially isolated older adults on loneliness, stress and health outcomes, including inflammatory assessment. Tai Chi-naïve participants who perceive themselves as socially isolated, as measured by the UCLA Loneliness Scale will be randomized to receive either Tai Chi or education control for a 12-week period. Subjects will undergo pre- and post-intervention stress assessment, including exposure to a psychological stress task, to assess whether Tai Chi affects how subjects physiologically and psychologically respond to stress.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

26

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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

60 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults > 60 years old
  • Have not done Tai Chi before
  • Live in Los Angeles area
  • Socially isolated
  • Women must be post menopausal

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Any physical debility that limits Tai Chi performance;
  • Cognitive impairment (< 23 on the Mini-Mental State Exam);
  • Current or recent history of smoking
  • Immune suppression resulting from neoplastic disease
  • Corticosteroid use or other therapy
  • Significant underlying illness that would interfere or prevent completion of the study
  • Acute conditions (e.g. viral infection w/in 2 weeks) that might confound interpretation of inflammatory data
  • Current or recent (within 1 month) use of illicit drugs.

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: Factorial Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Tai Chi Chih
12 weeks of physical exercise in the form of Tai Chi Chih
Behavioral: Tai Chi Chih
12 weeks of weekly classes of Tai Chi Chih
Other Names:
  • Tai Chi
  • exercise
  • relaxation
Active Comparator: Stress Education Control
Stress management education
Behavioral: Stress Education Control
Weekly meetings, for 2 hours for 12 weeks discussing issues related to stress education.
Other Names:
  • stress education
  • stress information

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Perceived Stress
Time Frame: 4-8 months
4-8 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Autonomic Activity and inflammatory signalling
Time Frame: 4-8 months
4-8 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of California, Los Angeles

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Sarosh J Motivala, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

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

May 1, 2008

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2010

Study Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2010

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 25, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 16, 2010

First Posted (Estimate)

September 17, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

November 18, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 16, 2016

Last Verified

November 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • AG028748-01-SST

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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