Qi Gong as a Method of Craving Reduction in Severe Addict Patients (QICA)

Craving arises in response to an affective tone that is associated with perceptual representations of a sensory object, rather than directly in response to the object.

The investigators presume that qi gong functions to decouple pleasant and unpleasant experience from habitual reactions by removing the affective bias that fuels such emotional reactivity. Qi gong training may specifically target the associated learning process with an emphasis on the critical link between affect and craving in an addictive loop.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Alcohol Dependence; Alcohol Addiction
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Qi Gong sessions

Detailed Description

The treatment of severe addiction to alcohol and one other or more psychoactive substances sometimes requires hospitalization for complex withdrawal. The medical term " sevrage complexe " is used in this file for hospitalization of patients with multiple addictions or with multiple comorbidities. In the french regulation the duration of hospitalization for " sevrage complexe " is at least 13 days.

The acute period of the first week is sufficient for physical weaning. A period relay for maintaining abstinence beyond the acute phase is a difficult stage. During this period the psychological craving related to the absence of the product causes dysphoria, stress, emotivity and increased difficulty in managing psychological aggression. The risk of relapse is then maximal and favored by many insults of everyday life.

Qi gong is classified by US National Library of Medicine as a mind-body therapy (MBT). It's an ancient traditional Chinese health practice believed to have special healing and recovery power. Today millions of people practice qi gong in China and around the world to treat various diseases. Qi gong is an ecole of breath, relaxation, guided imagery and inward attention. Practice of qi gong is believed to help cleanse the body of toxins, restore energy balance, reduce stress and anxiety. The Baduanjin qigong is one of the most common form of Chinese qi gong.

When going through withdrawal, craving is a psychological urge to administer a discontinued medication or recreational drug. Craving episodes may be triggered by seeing objects or experiencing moments that are associated with the drug or usage of it, and this phenomenon is termed post-acute withdrawal syndrome.

The main goal of our study is to demonstrate a reduction of craving during alcohol and coaddictions withdrawal. This demonstration is of first importance: first for the well-being of the patient during the first weeks after withdrawal, second for drug savings, and third abstinence rate because many authors consider that craving intensity is correlated with relapses risk.

The mind-body techniques of traditional Chinese medicine, as Qigong, are inscribed the number of current approaches in residential treatment. Their transmission would be an additional contribution to the stabilization via active management and motivated patient himself on his health.

The compulsion associated with addictive behavior can be defined as a pathological change in brain plasticity. The pathological learning process induced by the repeated use of the substance is causing behavioral control loss in the vulnerable individual.

Considering the impulsive nature of craving, this study will investigate the driving dynamics of impulses: Trieb "push". Return to the perception supported by the development of attention gestures leaning on the breath, puts us ahead of the motor action and is potentially a mean of influencing compulsive process.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 186
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• France
  • Montpellier, France, 34000
    • Recruiting
    • Hopital Saint Eloi
    • Contact: Hélène DONNADIEU-RIGOLE, MD, PHD; Phone Number: 0033 0467337020; Email: h-donnadieu_rigole@chu-montpellier.fr
  • Nice, France, 06002
    • Active, not recruiting
    • Hôpital l'Archet
  • Paris, France, 75013
    • Recruiting
    • Groupe Hospitalier Pitié Salpêtrière
    • Contact: Bruno MILLET, MD, PHD; Phone Number: 0033 0142162894; Email: b.millet@aphp.fr

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 14 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion criteria

• Meets DSM 5 criteria for alcohol use disorder and other substance use disorders
• Alcohol is one of the major abused substances if using multiple substances
• Severity of the disorder defines by the necessity of a complex withdrawal hospitalization.
• Used alcohol in the 3 weeks before hospitalization
• Seeks addiction treatment
• Patient willing to adhere to the study protocol (e.g. attend all visits and follow-ups in the next 3 months).
• Age ≥ 18
• Negative pregnancy test (βHCG) for women of child bearing potential
• Signed informed consent
• Affiliation to the French health insurance (recipient or assign)
• Oral and written comprehension of the french langage

Non-inclusion criteria

• Pose a current suicidal risk including active suicidal ideation and suicide attempt in the past 30 days
• Non stabilized severe psychiatric comorbidities such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, … (at the investigator's discretion)
• Pregnant or breastfeeding women
• Decompensated cirrhosis, liver encephalopathy, neurological complications, severe cognitive impairment and any other severe somatic comorbidity (at the investigator's discretion)
• Currently participated in other interventional clinical study
• Individuals placed under guardianship
• Patient deprived of freedom

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Qi Gong; Qi gong sessions added to usual well defined medical and psychological support	Other: Qi Gong sessions; 13 sessions of Qi Gong in a 9 weeks period
No Intervention: Control; Usual well defined medical and psychological support

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Variation of craving intensity	Variation of craving intensity on a Vvisual aAnalogic sScale (VAS) between baseline and the end of the treatment. The intensity is measured by "not at all" (score of 0) and "craving as bad as it could be" or "the most I've ever felt " (maximum score of 10), self-completed by the respondent. The respondent is asked to place a line perpendicular to the VAS line at the point that represents his craving intensity. The score is determined by measuring the distance on the 10-cm line between the "no craving" anchor and the patient's mark.	Change in VAS from baseline to 9 weeks treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Evolution over time of craving intensity	Craving intensity measured with 14-items Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS). OCDS score is the sum of two subscales scores. Obsessive Subscale is calculated from items 1 to 6, maximal subscore is 20 (worse outcome). Compulsive subscale is calculated from items 7 to 14.	0 day, 3 days, 5 days, 3 weeks and 9 weeks post-baseline
Difference in treatment retention	Difference in treatment retention (permanence rate)	3 weeks and 9 weeks post-baseline
Evolution over time of total alcohol consumption	Alcohol consumption assessed with Time Line Follow Back (TLFB)	0 day, 3 days, 5 days, 3 weeks and 9 weeks post-baseline
Evoluation over time of anxiety	Anxiety questions sum score of Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD scale). Seven questions are related to anxiety (total A). Anxiety is measured by the sum score questions 1 , 4, 6 , 8, 10 , 12, 14. . Non : Total A = 1,3,5,7,9,11,13 The maximum score being equal to 21 : 0-7: normal; 8-10 bordeline abnormal (borderline case); 11-21 : abnormal (case)	0 day, 3 days, 5 days, 3 weeks and 9 weeks post-baseline
Evolution over time of depression	Depression questions sum score of Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD scale). Seven questions are related to the depressive dimension (total D). Depression is measured by the sum score questions 2, 3, 5 , 7, 9 , 11, 13 Non: Total D : 2,4,6,8,10,12,14. The maximum score being equal to 21 : 0-7: normal; 8-10: bordeline abnormal (borderline case); 11-21: abnormal (case)	0 day, 3 days, 5 days, 3 weeks and 9 weeks post-baseline
Psycological qualitative evaluation	Qualitative evaluation assessed with clinical notes	1 day, 2 days, 3 days, 4 days, 5 days, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks, 6 weeks, 7 weeks, 8 weeks and 9 weeks post-baseline
Evolution over time of total alcohol consumption measured by GGT biomarker	GGT Gamma glutamyl transpeptidase levels in UI/I	at 0 day, 3 days, 5 days, 3 weeks and 9 weeks post-baseline
Evolution over time of total alcohol consumption measured by Carbohydrate-Deficient Transferrin (CDT) marker	CDT levels in %	at 0 day, 3 days, 5 days, 3 weeks and 9 weeks post-baseline
Evolution over time of total alcohol consumption measured by Mean Globular Volume (MGV) marker	MGV levels in fL	at 0 day, 3 days, 5 days, 3 weeks and 9 weeks post-baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Alain BAUMELOU, MD, Ph.D, Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris; Study Director: Nathalie PLET, Ph.D, Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 4, 2018
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): December 1, 2020
• Study Completion (Anticipated): December 1, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 18, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 16, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): July 17, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 17, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 15, 2019
• Last Verified: July 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Craving; Psychology; Qi Gong; Substance Addiction; Chinese Medecine
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Alcohol-Related Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Compulsive Behavior; Impulsive Behavior; Alcoholism; Behavior, Addictive
• Other Study ID Numbers: P160946J; 2017-A02986-47 (Registry Identifier: IDRCB)

Drug and device information, study documents

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