Assessing the Impact of Acupuncture Therapy on Medical Resident Well-Being: Feasibility and Acceptance

This feasibility study develops methods for larger-scale research, evaluating the acceptability and perceived impact of a group acupuncture and acupressure intervention, as well as suitability of a self-report instrument. During their weekly training program, eleven OB residents at NYU Lutheran Medical Center will receive three sessions of auricular acupuncture therapy. (This resident population was previously anonymously surveyed and all expressed interest in participating in such a study). The Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) will be administered at 6 time points. A brief survey will also be given to assess participants' acceptance of the intervention as well as applicability of the ProQOL instrument. Additional feasibility-related outcomes include protocol compliance/withdrawals, adverse events, and time taken to complete intervention and surveys.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Exhaustion; Syndrome
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Auricular Acupuncture Therapy

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 12
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10016
      • New York University School of Medicine

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 25 years to 44 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Enrollment in NYU Lutheran Obstetrics & Gynecology Residency program

Exclusion Criteria:

• Women currently pregnant or attempting to conceive

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: fourth-year Obstetrics and Gynecology residents; The intervention will be three sessions of auricular acupuncture therapy; there will be no control intervention.

Behavioral: Auricular Acupuncture Therapy; Acupuncture treatment will be the NADA protocol, a well-known and commonly used protocol that has previously been studied for stress relief in health care workers.In this protocol, 5, ½" needles are inserted in each auricle and retained while the group relaxes for 20 minutes. It will be conducted by two acupuncturists credentialed at NYU Lutheran (TK and AG).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL)	he ProQOL is the most commonly used measure of the negative and positive affects of helping others who experience suffering and trauma. The ProQOL has sub-scales for compassion satisfaction, burnout and compassion fatigue.	4 Weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: NYU Langone Health
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Meera Kesavan, MD, NYU Langone Health

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 1, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 1, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): September 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 7, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 7, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): August 10, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 9, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 6, 2017
• Last Verified: October 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Medical Residents; Well-Being; Stress/Burnout in Medical Residents
• Other Study ID Numbers: 16-02292

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No