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

Alcohol Dependence Clinical Trial

— QICA  

Official title:

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

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03589118
• Other study ID #: P160946J
• Secondary ID: 2017-A02986-47
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: October 4, 2018
• Est. completion date: December 2020

Study information

• Verified date: July 2019
• Source: Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris
• Contact: Alain BAUMELOU, MD, Ph.D
• Phone: 01 42 16 05 75
• Email: alain.baumelou[@]aphp.fr
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

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.

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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 186
• Est. completion date: December 2020
• Est. primary completion date: December 2020
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

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 (ßHCG) 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

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Alcohol Addiction
• Alcohol Dependence
• Alcoholism
• Behavior, Addictive

Intervention

Other:
• Qi Gong sessions
13 sessions of Qi Gong in a 9 weeks period

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
France	Hôpital Saint ELOI	Montpellier
France	Hôpital L'ARCHET	Nice
France	Groupe Hospitalier Pitié Salpêtrière	Paris

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris

Country where clinical trial is conducted

France, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	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	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
Secondary	Difference in treatment retention	Difference in treatment retention (permanence rate)	3 weeks and 9 weeks post-baseline
Secondary	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
Secondary	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
Secondary	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
Secondary	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
Secondary	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
Secondary	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
Secondary	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