Couples-Based Yoga Program in Improving Quality of Life in Patients With High-Grade Glioma Undergoing Radiation Therapy and Their Partners

April 10, 2026 updated by: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Couple-Based Yoga Program for Glioma Patients and Their Partners

This randomized clinical trial studies couples-based yoga program in improving quality of life in patients with high-grade glioma undergoing radiation therapy and their partners. A couple-based Hatha yoga program may improve fatigue, distress, sleep quality, and overall quality of life in patients with glioma and their partners.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. Examine the feasibility of a couple-based and a caregiver yoga program in glioma patients undergoing radiotherapy (RT) and their partners.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. Establish the initial efficacy of the yoga program in patients and their partners regarding quality of life (QOL) outcomes (i.e., fatigue, sleep disturbance, depressive symptoms, and overall QOL and health care utilization).

EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVES:

I. Explore potential moderation (e.g., baseline psychological distress, patients' tumor grade, performance status and class attendance) of the intervention effects.

OUTLINE: The first five couples are assigned to arm I. All subsequent couples are randomized to 1 of 2 arms.

ARM I: Patients and their partners attend up to 15, 45-60 minute sessions of Hatha yoga over the course of radiation therapy 5 times a week for 5-6 weeks. The program comprises four main components: joint loosening with breath synchronization; postures with deep relaxation techniques; breath energization with sound resonance; and meditation. At the fifth session, patients and their partners receive a digital video disc (DVD) and are encouraged to practice on their own (individually and/or together) on the days when they do not meet with the instructor.

ARM II: Patients receive standard of care provided by the health care team and complete questionnaires before and after radiation therapy.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

216

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
    • Texas
      • Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
        • M D Anderson Cancer Center

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

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Able to read and speak English
  • Able to provide informed consent
  • PATIENTS ONLY: Diagnosed with a primary glioma and going to receive at least 4 weeks of radiotherapy with at least 20 fractions
  • PATIENTS ONLY: Karnofsky performance status (KPS) of 80 or above
  • PATIENTS ONLY: Having an informal caregiver (spouse, romantic partner, adult child, sibling, or friend) who is willing to participate; for phase 1 only, if patients do not have one consistent primary caregiver for the duration of the study, they may be accompanied to the yoga sessions by an alternate caregiver who meets eligibility criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • PATIENTS ONLY: for phase 1 only, regularly (self-defined) participated in a yoga practice in the year prior to diagnosis
  • PATIENTS ONLY: for phase 1 only, physician-rated life expectancy of less than 6 months
  • PATIENTS ONLY: for phase 1 and 2, cognitive deficits that would impede the completion of self-report instruments as deemed by the clinical team

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: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Arm I (couple-based Hatha yoga program)
Patients and their partners attend up to 15, 45-60 minute sessions of Hatha yoga over the course of radiation therapy 5 times a week for 5-6 weeks. The program comprises four main components: joint loosening with breath synchronization; postures with deep relaxation techniques; breath energization with sound resonance; and meditation. At the fifth session, patients and their partners receive a DVD and are encouraged to practice on their own (individually and/or together) on the days when they do not meet with the instructor.
Other: Quality-of-Life Assessment
Ancillary studies
Other Names:
  • Quality of Life Assessment
Other: Questionnaire Administration
Ancillary studies
Other: Informational Intervention
Receive DVD for home practice
Other: Yoga
Complete couple-based Hatha yoga program
Other Names:
  • Yoga Therapy
Active Comparator: Arm II (waitlist control)
Patients receive standard of care provided by the health care team and complete questionnaires before and after radiation therapy.
Other: Quality-of-Life Assessment
Ancillary studies
Other Names:
  • Quality of Life Assessment
Other: Questionnaire Administration
Ancillary studies
Other: Best Practice
Undergo standard of care
Other Names:
  • standard of care
  • standard therapy

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Feasibility of a couple-based yoga program, determined by overall accrual
Time Frame: Up to 6 weeks
Up to 6 weeks
Feasibility of a couple-based yoga program, determined by attrition using the Mental Component Summary of Short Form-36
Time Frame: Up to 6 weeks

The questionnaires ask about health, any symptoms, mood, level of fatigue, sleeping habits, relationship, and quality of life.

Scale answers range from: All of the time, Most of the time, Some of the time, A little of the time, None of the time.
Up to 6 weeks
Feasibility of a couple-based yoga program determined by adherence
Time Frame: Up to 6 weeks
Trial determined feasible if 1) ≥ 50% of eligible couples consent (i.e., approach 80 couples to obtain 40 consents in phase 1 and approach 150 dyads to achieve 75 that consent in phase 2); 2) ≥ 70% of enrolled couples complete all assessments; 3) on average ≥ 50% of all practice sessions are attended; 4) no attributable AE or SAE occur
Up to 6 weeks
Feasibility of a couple-based yoga program, determined by incidence of adverse events and serious adverse events
Time Frame: Up to 6 weeks
Up to 6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Preliminary evidence of intervention efficacy, measured by answers on change in quality of life (QOL): SF-36 questionnaire
Time Frame: Up to 6 weeks
Question answers range : All of the time, Most of the time, Some of the time, A little of the time, None of the time
Up to 6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Collaborators

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Kathrin Milbury, MA,PHD, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

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

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)

June 16, 2015

Primary Completion (Estimated)

April 30, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 23, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 23, 2015

First Posted (Estimated)

June 25, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 15, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 10, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2015-0013 (Other Identifier: M D Anderson Cancer Center)
  • NCI-2015-01124 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program))

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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