Creative Arts II Study

June 23, 2021 updated by: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

Creative Arts Interventions for Improved Epilepsy Patient Quality of Life

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of music, visual art, or creative writing on quality of life measures for epilepsy patients.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Qualifying patients admitted to Epilepsy Monitoring Unit will be approached for participation in the study. Patients who consent will be randomly assigned to work with one of three creative artists (visual artist, creative writer, or therapeutic musician. The assigned artist will provide 1 intervention while the patient is admitted and 4 follow-up interventions after discharge from the hospital. Follow-up sessions will be conducted remotely, either by phone or over the internet.

Subjects will be asked to complete study questionnaires before and after the first art intervention, and again after the last follow-up session. The study seeks to measure the impact of arts interventions on quality of life. Secondary objectives include the effects of the interventions on seizure frequency and EEG spike generation, as well as the impact of creative arts interventions on patients diagnosed with non-epileptic events during hospitalization.*

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

48

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

    • New Hampshire
      • Lebanon, New Hampshire, United States, 03756
        • Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical 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

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age > 18 years old
  2. Scheduled for admission to the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Epilepsy Monitoring Unit for diagnostic Video/EEG monitoring
  3. Capable of giving informed consent.
  4. Able to follow instructions

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Active psychiatric illness that would interfere with participation with the artist.
  2. Active general medical condition that would impair the participant's consciousness or ability to participate.
  3. Any other reason that, in the opinion of the investigator, would exclude the participant from successful participation in the study.

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: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Music
The musician will either offer music that can either be played for the participant or an instrument so they can experience playing themselves. The duration of the intervention will be determined by participant interest and tolerance, but not to exceed 60 minutes. The outpatient music intervention will consist of providing a recording of similar music for the participant to listen to for at least 30 minutes per week, along a with telephone call session with the music therapist.
The music therapist will work with subjects for up to 60 minutes each session.
Experimental: Visual art
The creative visual artist will assess interest in spending time using the materials provided. Participants will be offered watercolor painting, drawing, or adult coloring. There will be a guided activity based on their art making preference. A standardized prompt will be utilized for both writing and visual art sessions. The duration of the intervention will be determined by participant interest and tolerance, but not to exceed 60 minutes. For remote follow-up sessions, participants will be supplied with a small art kit to use at home.
The visual artist will work with subjects for up to 60 minutes each session.
Experimental: Creative writing
The writer will ask the participant about their interests and experiences in writing or storytelling. The following options are offered; introduction to journaling, storytelling or writing exercises with prompts to get started, interactive writing or storytelling activities. For participants who are unable to write or prefer not to, the writer can scribe their words on a laptop and print them out. The duration of the intervention will be determined by participant interest and tolerance, but not to exceed 60 minutes. For follow-up sessions, participants will be supplied with a journal.
The creative writer will work with subjects for up to 60 minutes each session.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in participant Quality of Life (QOLIE-10) scores before and after the interventions.
Time Frame: Each participant will be assessed at baseline (Day 1) and after the inpatient intervention (approximately Day 3 - 21) and at baseline (Day 1) and after the follow-up remote interventions (approximately 8 weeks after discharge).
Change in quality of life will be calculated using the QOLIE-10 questionnaire responses.The QOLIE-10 includes 10 questions with a total score range of 10 - 51. The score will be calculated by the sum of scores for all questions divided by the number of items answered. Thus, if a patient skipped an item, it is not reflected in the total score. A lower score indicates a higher quality of life, and a higher score indicates a lower quality of life.
Each participant will be assessed at baseline (Day 1) and after the inpatient intervention (approximately Day 3 - 21) and at baseline (Day 1) and after the follow-up remote interventions (approximately 8 weeks after discharge).
Change in participant Distress scores before and after the interventions.
Time Frame: Each participant will be assessed at baseline (Day 1) and after the inpatient intervention (approximately Day 3 - 21) and at baseline (Day 1) and after the follow-up remote interventions (approximately 8 weeks after discharge).
Change in distress will be calculated using the Distress scale. The Distress scale asks patients to rate their distress on a scale from 0 - 10, with 0 meaning "no distress" and 10 meaning "extreme distress." Lower scores indicate less distress.
Each participant will be assessed at baseline (Day 1) and after the inpatient intervention (approximately Day 3 - 21) and at baseline (Day 1) and after the follow-up remote interventions (approximately 8 weeks after discharge).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in participant Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) scores before and after interventions.
Time Frame: Each participant will be assessed at baseline (Day 1) and after the inpatient intervention (approximately Day 3 - 21) and at baseline (Day 1) and after the follow-up remote interventions (approximately 8 weeks after discharge).
Change in health status will be calculated using the PHQ-9 questionnaire. The PHQ-9 is a 9-item questionnaire with scores ranging from 0 to 27. Lower scores indicate better health scores and higher scores represent worse health status. Scores of 5, 10, 15, and 20 represent cutoffs for mild, moderate, moderately severe and severe depression, respectively.
Each participant will be assessed at baseline (Day 1) and after the inpatient intervention (approximately Day 3 - 21) and at baseline (Day 1) and after the follow-up remote interventions (approximately 8 weeks after discharge).
Change in participant Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scores before and after interventions.
Time Frame: Each participant will be assessed at baseline (Day 1) and after the inpatient intervention (approximately Day 3 - 21) and at baseline (Day 1) and after the follow-up remote interventions (approximately 8 weeks after discharge).
Change in anxiety level will be calculated using the GAD-7 questionnaire responses. The GAD-7 is a 7-items questionnaire with scores ranging from 0 to 21. Scores of 5, 10, and 15 represent cut-offs for mild, moderate, and severe anxiety, respectively.
Each participant will be assessed at baseline (Day 1) and after the inpatient intervention (approximately Day 3 - 21) and at baseline (Day 1) and after the follow-up remote interventions (approximately 8 weeks after discharge).
Change in EEG spike frequency before, during, and after the intervention while participant is admitted to the DHMC epilepsy inpatient service.
Time Frame: Each participant will be assessed at baseline (Day 1) and after the inpatient intervention (approximately Day 3 - 21) and at baseline (Day 1) and after the follow-up remote interventions (approximately 8 weeks after discharge).
EEG spike frequency will be determined by automated spike detection software
Each participant will be assessed at baseline (Day 1) and after the inpatient intervention (approximately Day 3 - 21) and at baseline (Day 1) and after the follow-up remote interventions (approximately 8 weeks after discharge).
Change in seizure frequency from baseline to end of follow-up
Time Frame: Each participant will be assessed at baseline (Day 1) and after the inpatient intervention (approximately Day 3 - 21) and at baseline (Day 1) and after the follow-up remote interventions (approximately 8 weeks after discharge).
Comparison of seizure data at baseline and post-interventions based on patient report of baseline and seizure calendar reporting
Each participant will be assessed at baseline (Day 1) and after the inpatient intervention (approximately Day 3 - 21) and at baseline (Day 1) and after the follow-up remote interventions (approximately 8 weeks after discharge).
Qualitative analysis to identify themes in the creative writing and visual art subject matter.
Time Frame: After the inpatient intervention (approximately Day 3 - 21) and after each follow-up remote intervention (approximately 8 weeks after discharge).
Participants assigned to either the creative writer or to the visual artist will supply their creations for analysis. The creative writing subject matter will be analyzed using N-Vivo software. Visual art subject matter will be coded for thematic content manually.
After the inpatient intervention (approximately Day 3 - 21) and after each follow-up remote intervention (approximately 8 weeks after discharge).
Change in quality of life measures for participants ultimately diagnosed with non-epileptic seizures compared to those diagnosed with epileptic seizures.
Time Frame: Each participant will be assessed at baseline (Day 1) and after the inpatient intervention (approximately Day 3 - 21) and at baseline (Day 1) and after the follow-up remote interventions (approximately 8 weeks after discharge).
Change in quality of life for patients with non-epileptic seizures will be calculated using the QOLIE-10 questionnaire responses.The QOLIE-10 includes 10 questions. The score is calculated by the sum of scores for all questions divided by the number of items answered. Thus, if a patient skipped an item, it is not reflected in the total score. A lower score indicates a higher quality of life, and a higher score indicates a lower quality of life.
Each participant will be assessed at baseline (Day 1) and after the inpatient intervention (approximately Day 3 - 21) and at baseline (Day 1) and after the follow-up remote interventions (approximately 8 weeks after discharge).

Collaborators and Investigators

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

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)

September 30, 2019

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2021

Study Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2021

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 19, 2019

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 19, 2019

First Posted (Actual)

June 21, 2019

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 28, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 23, 2021

Last Verified

June 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • D19124

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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