Aging Successfully With Pain

September 30, 2017 updated by: Natalia Morone, University of Pittsburgh

Effectiveness of a Mind-Body Program for Older Adults With Chronic Low Back Pain

The primary objective of this study is to determine the effectiveness of a mind-body program in increasing function and reducing pain among older adults with chronic low back pain

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Among mind-body therapies, there is evidence for an association between pain reduction and mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness meditation provides a potentially safe, effective, nonpharmacologic, noninvasive, simple method for pain relief and increased function that could be used for the frailest older adult. This experimental study is designed as a randomized, education controlled clinical trial of a mind-body program for older adults with chronic low back pain. A sample of 300 independent, community-dwelling adults 65 years of age and older will be recruited. After determining eligibility, study participants will give written informed consent and will be randomized to either the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program or the health education control program. Participants in the mind-body group will receive the intervention of eight weekly 90-minute mindfulness meditation sessions that are modeled on the MBSR program. Controls will receive an 8-week health education program based on the 10 Keys(TM) to Healthy Aging. After completion of the 8-week program, participants in both programs will be asked to return for 12 monthly booster sessions. Prior to initiating the program, immediately after the last program session, and 6 & 12 months later, the following parameters will be assessed: (1) physical function, (2) pain severity, (3) neuropsychological performance, (4) measures of mindfulness, (5) demographic factors, and (6) biomedical factors.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

282

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
    • Pennsylvania
      • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15213
        • University of Pittsburgh

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

61 years and older (Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 65 years or older
  • Have intact cognition (Mini-Mental Status Exam (MMSE) >24)
  • 65 years of age or older.
  • Have functional limitations due to their low back, defined as a score of at least 12 on the Roland and Morris Disability Questionnaire.
  • CLBP, defined as moderate pain occurring daily or almost every day for at least the previous three months.
  • Speak English.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Do not meet the above inclusion criteria
  • Have previously participated in a mindfulness meditation program.
  • Have serious underlying illness (like malignancy, infection, unexplained fever, weight loss or recent trauma) causing their pain.
  • Are non-ambulatory, or have severely impaired mobility (i.e., require the use of a walker): since measurement of physical performance in the proposed study includes timed chair rise, gait velocity, and standing balance, conditions other than back pain that could negatively impact these measures may confound our study results.
  • Have severe visual or hearing impairment: since this study will involve questionnaires and telephone evaluations, severe visual and/or hearing impairments may interfere with data collection and data validity. For example, the Mini-Mental Status Exam has never been validated in those with severe visual or hearing disturbance.
  • Have pain in other parts of the body that is more severe than their low back pain, [defined as pain other than in the lower back that occurs daily or almost every day and is of at least moderate intensity] or acute back pain: since we will be specifically evaluating chronic low back pain, we do not want to confound the outcome data with [significant pain] from other areas or with acute pain. Thus only participants with chronic low back pain severity that is greater than pain severity elsewhere in the body will be included.
  • Have acute or terminal illness: To insure weekly participation and a twelve month follow-up, participants with an acute or terminal illness will be excluded from the study.
  • Have moderate to severe depression, defined as a Geriatric Depression Scale score of 21 and above: since active depression may affect the psychological outcomes of the study and may affect compliance with participation in the intervention and control programs.
  • Do not have access to a telephone: since monthly assessments will be done over the telephone.

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: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Behavioral-Mindfulness
Mindfulness Meditation
Behavioral: Mindfulness Meditation
8-week mindfulness based program will be compared to and education control group
Placebo Comparator: Behavioral-Health
Health Education Class
Behavioral: Health Education
8-week health education program

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in the Roland-Morris Questionnaire
Time Frame: Change from Baseline to 8-weeks to 6-months to 12-months
The Roland-Morris Questionnaire is a disability measure in which greater levels of disability are reflected by higher numbers on a 24-point scale. The RMQ has been shown to yield reliable measurements, which are valid for inferring the level of disability, and to be sensitive to change over time for groups of patients with low back pain
Change from Baseline to 8-weeks to 6-months to 12-months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Pittsburgh

Collaborators

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Dr Natalia Morone, MD, MS, University of Pittsburgh

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

February 1, 2011

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2014

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 25, 2011

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 28, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

July 29, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 3, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 30, 2017

Last Verified

September 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • PRO09100150
  • R01AG034078-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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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