The Move Well Study (MW)

June 4, 2021 updated by: Arizona State University

Effects of Meditative Movement on Body Composition in Midlife Women

This study will explore the effects of meditative movement on body composition in a group of 60 midlife women. Women will participate in 30-minute meditative movement (MM) classes for an eight-week period. Participants will be encouraged to practice MM at home for at least 30 minutes most days per week. Participants will be asked to complete a log of their time spent doing meditative movement outside of classes.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

A growing body of published evidence indicates that meditative movement (MM) practices may be helpful for body composition improvement. Less strenuous forms of exercise that include a focus on the breath and meditative state (i.e., "meditative movement" such as Yoga, Qigong, or Tai Chi) may be easier to adopt for unfit, sedentary, overweight or obese women, which characterizes a large percentage of the general population. Despite this preliminary evidence, no studies have proposed a model for how or why weight loss might occur in MM interventions where the goals are not designated as weight loss, nutritional counseling is not included, and energy expenditure is not at the level assumed to be required to achieve weight loss. The proposed intervention is designed to refine and gather preliminary evidence for a novel "mindful-body-wisdom" model of intervening on improving body composition and to examine the contribution of model factors (psychological and behavioral) of how such a non-diet/non-vigorous exercise intervention might work, in 60 midlife women.

TCE is a simple TC/QG form that was developed by Dr. Roger Jahnke and developed into a standardized research intervention protocol by a team of researchers. It has been used in several prior projects and one recently completed NIH/NCCAM-funded randomized controlled trial (RCT) with breast cancer survivors showing reduction in fatigue and depression, and improved sleep and physical function.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

52

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

    • Arizona
      • Phoenix, Arizona, United States, 85004
        • Arizona State University Downtown Campus

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

45 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Female
  • 45-75 years of age
  • Ability to participate in low intensity activity

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Women who are unable to stand for 10-minute segments (e.g., wheelchair or walker bound and too weak)
  • Women who are unable to walk

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Meditative Movement Intervention
Participants will complete the following components of baseline (T1) data collection: demographics, biometric measurements, a heart rate variability assessment, and questionnaires. Participants will be asked to provide six saliva samples via passive drool to measure cortisol levels. Participants will be assigned into hour-long meditative movement (MM) classes for eight weeks total. Participants will be asked to practice their MM skills at home for at least 30 minutes most days per week. The study will distribute hard-copy movement manuals and DVD instruction videos for guidance. Participants will be asked to provide a log of all dates and lengths of their at-home practice. After the eighth class, participants will return for post-intervention (T2) data collection, consisting of biometric measurements, a heart rate variability assessment, and questionnaires. Participants will provide six more saliva samples via passive drool method.
Intervention will be taught by a certified Tai Chi Easy (TCE) group practice leader. The TCE movements will be repeated in differing sequences and time-frames during the course of the study. The variety and combination of the exercises will begin easy and progress to more advanced movements and/or intensities as the study progresses and participants become more experienced and comfortable with the routine. Participants spend one hour in class each week for a total of eight weeks.
Other Names:
  • Tai Chi Easy (TCE)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Body Fat Percentage
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Body fat percentage will be measured using Bioelectric Impedance Analysis (BIA) via the Tanita monitor. Score range= 0% to 100%. A higher score indicates a higher body fat percentage.
8 weeks
Emotional Eating
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Emotional eating will be measured using the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) (21 items, 4-point Likert scale with response options 1 through 4 for items 1 through 17, response options 1 through 8 for item 18). Score range= 18 to 76. Emotional eating sub-score is calculated by combining six items of the TFEQ. A higher score indicates greater emotional eating.
8 weeks
Sleep Quality
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Sleep quality will be measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) (10 items, 4-point Likert scale; 0= positive extreme of scale, 3= negative extreme of scale). Score range= 0 to 21. A higher score indicates worse sleep quality.
8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Perceived Stress Scale-10
Time Frame: 8 weeks
self-report measure of perceived stress, 10-items, Likert scale
8 weeks
Self-Compassion Scale (SCS)
Time Frame: 8 weeks
self-report measure of self-compassion as measured (26 items) by self-kindness, common humanity, non-judgment
8 weeks
Body Awareness Questionnaire (BAQ)
Time Frame: 8 weeks
self-report measure of experienced body awareness/iteroception, 18-items, Likert-scale
8 weeks
Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised (CAMS-R)
Time Frame: 8 weeks
self-report measure of mindfulness, Likert-scale, 9-items
8 weeks

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)

March 27, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 14, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

December 14, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 13, 2019

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 26, 2019

First Posted (Actual)

August 28, 2019

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 8, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 4, 2021

Last Verified

June 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

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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