Meditation to Reduce Stress and Improve Quality of Life

Stress Clinical Trial

Official title:

Meditation to Reduce Stress and Improve Quality of Life: A Feasibility Study

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01047917
• Other study ID #: 07-006601
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: January 11, 2010
• Last updated: January 4, 2012
• Start date: March 2008
• Est. completion date: April 2008

Study information

• Verified date: January 2012
• Source: Mayo Clinic
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: United States: Institutional Review Board
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to test a simple meditation program that is easy to learn; inexpensive; easy to practice; non-religion based; and has wide applicability to multiple medical conditions. This program has been developed by the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at the Mayo Clinic.

Description:

Stress is a ubiquitous problem and a mediator of symptoms for a variety of medical conditions. Most medical diagnoses, procedures, and physician visits are associated with considerable stress. Excessive stress is associated with adverse medical outcomes, unhealthy coping mechanisms, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and overall a poor quality of life. No specific pharmacologic treatment is available for treating stress. Further, it is often difficult or impossible to change the reality of circumstances causing stress in an individual. Thus increasing individual coping mechanisms and ability of a person to handle stress, rather than changing the stressors itself, might be a more feasible approach towards reducing stress.

Meditation is a widely used and increasingly popular intervention that positively affects the individual at cognitive, physical, emotional, behavioral, and spiritual levels. A practice of meditation has been shown to reduce symptoms of stress and improve overall quality of life. Several meditation programs exist, however most are limited by considerable expense, need for elaborate training, lack of widespread availability, or incorporation of ideas and practices unique to a particular culture.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 17
• Est. completion date: April 2008
• Est. primary completion date: April 2008
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• At least 18 years of age

• Good general health

• Access to a DVD player

• Provided with, understand, and have signed the informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Are currently using (at the time of enrollment) antipsychotics or recently (< 3 months) started on antidepressants. Patients on stable dose of antidepressant (for = 3 months) will be allowed.

• Have a lifetime history of schizophrenia

Study Design

Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Prevention

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Stress

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Meditation DVD
Participants will undergo a one-hour group instruction session in meditation held by Dr. Amit Sood. Participants will then receive a DVD to practice the intervention at home daily for a total of 4 weeks. The DVD will have 3 different programs of 5, 15, and 30 minutes each loaded on it with a menu option to choose one of the programs.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Mayo Clinic	Rochester	Minnesota

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Mayo Clinic

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

References & Publications (1)

Prasad K, Wahner-Roedler DL, Cha SS, Sood A. Effect of a single-session meditation training to reduce stress and improve quality of life among health care professionals: a "dose-ranging" feasibility study. Altern Ther Health Med. 2011 May-Jun;17(3):46-9. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	To assess the feasibility of incorporating a 4-week innovative meditation program into the daily activities of healthy Mayo Clinic employees for improving stress.		4 Weeks	No
Secondary	To assess the effect of a 4-week program of meditation on perceived stress and overall quality of life compared to baseline.		4 Weeks	No