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NCT Number: NCT01536756

Effectiveness of a Structured Physical Rehabilitation Program for Chinese Patients With Depressive Disorders

Evidence shows that depression was found to be associated with physical inactivity and on the other hand, high prevalence of depression was also found in patients with chronic pain. Structured physical rehabilitation program with exercises as main component and pain management provided by physiotherapy has been proved by overseas studies to be effective in reducing the psychological symptoms of depression through increasing the physical fitness and relieving the pain. Literatures also reported a strong sociocultural influence on the prevalence of depression and the manifestations of their clinical signs and symptoms in patients suffered from mental health problems between Chinese and Western societies. The benefits of physical rehabilitation program in the management of depression cannot be assumed in the Chinese population. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a structured "Physical Rehabilitation Program" for Chinese patients diagnosed with depressive disorder (mild to severe severity) on the physical fitness and negative psychological symptoms of the recruited patients.

The Hypothesis are:

1. The Physical Rehabilitation Program is effective in improving the physical fitness in Chinese patients with depressive disorders. 2. The Physical Rehabilitation Program is effective in alleviating the negative psychological symptoms in Chinese patients with depressive disorders.

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Key information

Conditions

Depressive Disorders Behavior Depressive Disorder Mental Disorders Mood Disorders Motor Activity Neurologic Manifestations Pain Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Signs and Symptoms

Age range

18 year–64 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Physiotherapy Department, Kowloon Hospital, Hong Kong, China

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About this study

Eighty-four Chinese patients who are diagnosed as depressive disorders with age between 18 and 64 years old, fulfilling the inclusion criteria (stated at the attached study proposal) will be recruited for a 12-week physical rehabilitation program with forty-two patients for the intervention group (n=42) and equal sample size for the control group (patient put on the waiting list for the Physical Rehabilitation Program). All patients will be allocated to either the intervention group or control group by computer generated block randomization with block size of 6 persons using StatsDirect Software, version 2.7.8. The subjects of the control group will be asked to maintain their usual activities while awaiting for the physical rehabilitation program at the 12-week waiting time. They will be allowed to receive any other usual medical services including social services and psychotherapy but not physiotherapy services. At the end of the 3rd month, the control group will be recruited into the Physical Rehabilitation Program. Patients in the control group will then join in as the intervention group and follow the intervention and assessment protocol. All the patients will be instructed not to disclose their grouping to the assessor. Sub-group analysis will be conducted for further in-depth analysis of the subjects in the intervention group having clinical manifestations of pain interference as triage by the 7 items in Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) - short form - Chinese version. Outcome measures on the physical and mental domains will be conducted: at baseline (T1-before commencement of program), end of the 3rd month (T2-end of program for intervention group; end of the waiting time of control group), 12 months (T3-one year long term follow-up for the intervention group). Validity and reliability of all the adopted outcome measures were reported in medical literatures. There is no reported harmful effect on all interventions and there is no pain or discomfort for all of the testing procedures. Physical outcome measures include body composition (body mass index, percentage of body fat); flexibility (sit and reach flexibility); muscular endurance (1-minute sit-up count); muscle strength (hand grip strength, isometric quadriceps strength); cardiovascular endurance (maximal oxygen consumption) and physical functioning (Brief Pain Inventory- Chinese version). Mental outcome measures include depression, anxiety & stress (Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS-21) - Chinese version); depression (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale- Chinese version) and self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale- Chinese version). The findings will serve as pilot program for rolling out of the services for Chinese patients with depressive disorders to other clusters / hospital and reference base for future territory-wide profile study on this clientele and randomized controlled trials.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Ages between 18 and 64 Chinese adults with diagnosed depressive disorders of mild to severe severity (Diagnostic code: F32.0 to F33.9 under International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision) as referred from the Department of Psychiatry of Kowloon Hospital or Kwai Chung Hospital;
  • Able to read, write and understand Chinese;
  • Mentally capable of making written consent for participation of the study.

Exclusion criteria

  • Unstable medical and/or psychological states such as suicidal risk and aggressive impulses, or severe cognitive, language, or hearing deficits;
  • Orthopaedic problems or other diseases which limit physical fitness assessment.

Treatment and study plan

Exercise Intervention -- Physical Rehabilitation Program

Other

The intervention group will participate in a "Physical Rehabilitation Program" which includes a 60-minute training session at a frequency of 3 times a week over a total of 12-week duration. The training session consists of 45 minutes of warm-up stretching and circuit training. This includes 3 stations of aerobic exercises for physical work up of different body parts, and 3 stations of strengthening exercises of major muscles groups at 3 sets of 10 repetitions. The final 15-minute training session will be the cooling down exercise with emphasis on stress management incorporating mindful breathing, stretching and body awareness exercise.

Wait list control group

Other

The subjects of the control group will be asked to maintain their usual activities while awaiting for the physical rehabilitation program at the 12-week waiting time. They will be allowed to receive any other usual medical services including social services and psychotherapy but not physiotherapy services. At the end of the 3rd month, the control group will be recruited into the Physical Rehabilitation Program. Patients in the control group will then join in as the intervention group and follow the intervention and assessment protocol.

Primary outcomes

  1. Change from Baseline in Body Composition at 3 months and 12 months

    Time frame: Baseline, 3 months and 12 months

    Body Mass Index & Percentage of Body Fat

  2. Change from Baseline in Flexibility at 3 months and 12 months

    Time frame: Baseline, 3 months and 12 months

    Sit and Reach Flexibility

  3. Change from Baseline in Muscle Strength at 3 months and 12 months

    Time frame: Baseline, 3 months and 12 months

    Hand Grip Strength & Quadriceps Strength

  4. Change from Baseline in Muscular Endurance at 3 months and 12 months

    Time frame: Baseline, 3 months and 12 months

    One-Minute Sit-up Count

  5. Change from Baseline in Cardiovascular Endurance at 3 months and 12 months

    Time frame: Baseline, 3 months and 12 months

    Maximal Oxygen Consumption

  6. Change from Baseline in Physical Functioning at 3 months and 12 months

    Time frame: Baseline, 3 months and 12 months

    pain interference score of Brief Pain Inventory- Chinese version

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change from Baseline in Depression, Anxiety and Stress at 3 months and 12 months

    Time frame: Baseline, 3 months and 12 months

    Depression Anxiety Stress Scale - 21 - Chinese Version

  2. Change from Baseline in Depression at 3 months and 12 months

    Time frame: Baseline, 3 months and 12 months

    Hamilton Depression Rating Scale- Chinese version

  3. Change from Baseline in Self-esteem at 3 months and 12 months

    Time frame: Baseline, 3 months and 12 months

    Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale- Chinese version

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Kowloon Hospital, Hong Kong

Other

Collaborators

  • Kwai Chung Hospital

Registry information

Official study title

A Single Blind Randomized Controlled Study Investigating the Effectiveness of a Structured Physical Rehabilitation Program on the Physical Fitness and Negative Psychological Symptoms for Chinese Patients With Mild to Severe Depressive Disorders

Important dates

Study start
2012
Primary completion
2015
Study completion
2015
First posted
Feb 22, 2012
Registry last updated
Jan 23, 2020

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.

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