Assessing the Impact of Isha Kriya Medi… | Clinical Trial

Key information

Conditions

Anxiety Anxiety Disorders Behavior Behavioral Symptoms Depression Mental Disorders

Age range

18 year–70 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Boston, Massachusetts, 02215, United States

About this study

In 2019, over 15% of the population experienced symptoms of anxiety. This was highest amongst 18-29-year-olds. Amongst these adults, 9.5% experienced mild, 3.4% experienced moderate, and 2.7% experienced severe symptoms of anxiety. About 1 in 6 adults is expected to suffer from depression at some point in their lives. Due to the pandemic, rates of anxiety and depression increased significantly. In December 2020, 42% of people surveyed by the US Census Bureau had symptoms associated with anxiety or depression. This is compared to 11% of adults having similar symptoms from Jan-June 2019. The rapidly diminishing mental health in the general population, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, has raised the concern for an emerging new pandemic: the mental health pandemic. Mental health leaders and organizations are urging the federal and state authorities to make mental health a top priority and allocate resources to areas including early identification and prevention, establishing integrated health and mental health care to ensure "whole-person" well-being, assuring evidence-based standards of prevention, treatment and care.

Meditation has been shown to be effective in reducing symptoms associated with anxiety and depression. A recent study using a meditation called Isha Kriya showed improved perceived stress amongst operating room professionals in one sitting. Isha Kriya is a simple meditation practice (15minutes) that can be done by anyone over 12 years of age. It is offered free globally via in-person sessions, online webinars, and online videos. A meditation which is available electronically and freely could be an attractive option to include in prevention and treatment strategies for anxiety and depression. Furthermore, such intervention is easily scalable and accessible to everyone with access to the internet and if found effective, can be a valuable resource for addressing disparities in access to mental health resources in minority and underserved populations. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of this meditation on reducing symptoms associated with anxiety and depression over 6 weeks.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Age 18-70 years
Interest in Isha Kriya

Exclusion criteria

Low English proficiency
Not currently residing in United States

Treatment and study plan

Primary outcomes

Compliance

Time frame: Changes from baseline to 6 weeks

The weekly compliance questionnaire is a tool which helps the participants to keep a track of their activities each week. This enables the study team to measure compliance and protocol adherence by the participants by collecting information on their routine activity practiced and its frequency.

Secondary outcomes

PROMIS - Anxiety Short Form

Time frame: Changes from baseline to 6 weeks

PROMIS - Anxiety Short Form1 is an 8 item validated instrument that assesses severity of anxiety. Participants are asked on a scale of 1 (Never) to 5 (Always) on the frequency of occurrence of each negative experience. Overall score is computed based on sum from individual responses.
Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10)

Time frame: Changes from baseline to 6 weeks

PROMIS - Anxiety Short Form is an 8 item validated instrument that assesses severity of anxiety.

Participants are asked on a scale of 1 (Never) to 5 (Always) on the frequency of occurrence of each negative experience. Overall score is computed based on sum from individual responses.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start: 2021
Primary completion: 2021
Study completion: 2021
First posted: Oct 4, 2021
Registry last updated: Dec 5, 2022

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.

Completed