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Completed

NCT Number: NCT04927026

"Where-there-is-no-psychiatrist Integrated Personal Therapy" Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that approximately 15% of adults aged 60 and above suffer from some form of mental disorder, with one of the most common neuropsychiatric disorders being depression. Similar trends are seen in Singapore where 11.4% of the older adults aged 65 and above had depressive symptoms. Another population survey conducted among elderly in Singapore showed that elderly with subsyndromal depression (SSD) were similar to or worse than elderly with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). However being a multi-ethnic Asia society the mental conditions such as depression and anxiety are seen as taboo topics to be discussed more so to seek help or treatment for these conditions in Singapore. Additionally scarcity of trained psychiatrists and work load of these trained professionals in the acute care settings make it difficult to reach these needy older adults. Hence, it is imperative to support the needs of this group of community dwelling older adults to ensure that their emotional wellbeing, and their condition do not progress to MDD. As such, this is the first of its kind study that will evaluate the effectiveness of solution focused brief therapy delivered by the lay mindfulness practitioner and the nurses.

If the pilot intervention is found to be feasible and effective, the large scale community trial will be planned to reach to more elderly in Singapore to help them age in a dignified way. In addition, other countries that do not involve lay mindfulness practitioners and nurses to provide integrated personal therapy in the community may benefit from this study as well.

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Key information

Conditions

Older Adults Behavior Mental Health Mindfulness Personal Satisfaction Psychological Well-Being Solution-focused Brief Therapy

Age range

60 year–95 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

National University of Singapore

Singapore, 117597

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Community-dwelling older adults aged between 60-95 years old
  • Able to understand and speak either English and/or Mandarin
  • Able to attend at least 80% (five out of seven sessions) of the intervention sessions
  • Have subsyndromal depression (obtained a score between one and five on the Geriatric Depression Scale) and/or subsyndromal anxiety (obtained a score between three and 10 on the Geriatric Anxiety Scale)

Exclusion criteria

  • Older adults aged between 60-95 years old without subsyndromal depression and/or subsyndromal anxiety
  • Older adults aged between 60-95 years old who could not understand or speak either English and/or Mandarin.
  • Older adults aged between 60-95 years old who were unable to attend at least 80% (five out of seven sessions) of the intervention sessions.

Treatment and study plan

Where-there-is-no-psychiatrist Integrated Personal Therapy (WIPT)

Behavioral

The WIPT include weekly face-to-face group sessions including mindfulness-based training and solution focused brief therapy (SFBT) involving psychoeducation and structured life review therapy catered to the personal needs of the participants.

Primary outcomes

  1. Symptoms of depression

    Time frame: Prior to start of intervention

    Measured using Geriatric Depression Scale. 15-item scale where participants select either "Yes" or "No" in response to 15 statements. The maximum score that could be obtained was 15 points; a high score on the scale indicates severe depressive symptoms.

  2. Symptoms of depression

    Time frame: 3 months post-recruitment

    Measured using Geriatric Depression Scale. 15-item scale where participants select either "Yes" or "No" in response to 15 statements. The maximum score that could be obtained was 15 points; a high score on the scale indicates severe depressive symptoms.

  3. Symptoms of depression

    Time frame: 6 months post-recruitment

    Measured using Geriatric Depression Scale. 15-item scale where participants select either "Yes" or "No" in response to 15 statements. The maximum score that could be obtained was 15 points; a high score on the scale indicates severe depressive symptoms.

  4. Symptoms of anxiety

    Time frame: Prior to start of intervention

    Measured using Geriatric Anxiety Inventory. 20-item scale where participants select either "Agree" or "Disagree" to assess the anxiety symptoms in older adults. The maximum score that could be obtained was 20 points; a high score indicates more anxiety symptoms.

  5. Symptoms of anxiety

    Time frame: 3 months post-recruitment

    Measured using Geriatric Anxiety Inventory. 20-item scale where participants select either "Agree" or "Disagree" to assess the anxiety symptoms in older adults. The maximum score that could be obtained was 20 points; a high score indicates more anxiety symptoms.

  6. Symptoms of anxiety

    Time frame: 6 months post-recruitment

    Measured using Geriatric Anxiety Inventory. 20-item scale where participants select either "Agree" or "Disagree" to assess the anxiety symptoms in older adults. The maximum score that could be obtained was 20 points; a high score indicates more anxiety symptoms.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Life satisfaction

    Time frame: Prior to start of intervention

    Measured using Satisfaction with Life Scale. 5-item scale that included a 7-point Likert scale (1 = "Strongly Disagree"; 7 = "Strongly Agree"). The maximum score that could be obtained was 35 points; a high score indicates high level of satisfaction with life.

  2. Life satisfaction

    Time frame: 3 months post-recruitment

    Measured using Satisfaction with Life Scale. 5-item scale that included a 7-point Likert scale (1 = "Strongly Disagree"; 7 = "Strongly Agree"). The maximum score that could be obtained was 35 points; a high score indicates high level of satisfaction with life.

  3. Life satisfaction

    Time frame: 6 months post-recruitment

    Measured using Satisfaction with Life Scale. 5-item scale that included a 7-point Likert scale (1 = "Strongly Disagree"; 7 = "Strongly Agree"). The maximum score that could be obtained was 35 points; a high score indicates high level of satisfaction with life.

  4. Social connectedness in terms of friendship

    Time frame: Prior to start of intervention

    Measured using Friendship Scale. 6-item where participants had to select an answer out of the five options (1 = "Not at All"; 5 = "Almost Always"). The maximum score that could be obtained was 30 points; a high score indicates high level of social connectedness.

  5. Social connectedness in terms of friendship

    Time frame: 3 months post-recruitment

    Measured using Friendship Scale. 6-item where participants had to select an answer out of the five options (1 = "Not at All"; 5 = "Almost Always"). The maximum score that could be obtained was 30 points; a high score indicates high level of social connectedness.

  6. Social connectedness in terms of friendship

    Time frame: 6 months post-recruitment

    Measured using Friendship Scale. 6-item where participants had to select an answer out of the five options (1 = "Not at All"; 5 = "Almost Always"). The maximum score that could be obtained was 30 points; a high score indicates high level of social connectedness.

  7. Quality of life

    Time frame: Prior to start of intervention

    Measured using World Health Organization Quality of Life-Older Adults module. 13-item scale where participants had to select an answer based on a 5-point rating scale (1 = "Not at All"; 5 = "Very Satisfied"). The maximum score was 65 points, and a high score indicates high quality of life.

  8. Quality of life

    Time frame: 3 months post-recruitment

    Measured using World Health Organization Quality of Life-Older Adults module. 13-item scale where participants had to select an answer based on a 5-point rating scale (1 = "Not at All"; 5 = "Very Satisfied"). The maximum score was 65 points, and a high score indicates high quality of life.

  9. Quality of life

    Time frame: 6 months post-recruitment

    Measured using World Health Organization Quality of Life-Older Adults module. 13-item scale where participants had to select an answer based on a 5-point rating scale (1 = "Not at All"; 5 = "Very Satisfied"). The maximum score was 65 points, and a high score indicates high quality of life.

Other outcomes

  1. Cortisol in ng/ml

    Time frame: Prior to start of intervention

    Stress- and anxiety- related inflammatory outcomes. Collected in lithium heparin tubes

  2. Cortisol in ng/ml

    Time frame: 6 months post-recruitment

    Stress- and anxiety- related inflammatory outcomes. Collected in lithium heparin tubes

  3. Annexin-A1 in ng/ml

    Time frame: Prior to start of intervention

    Stress- and anxiety- related inflammatory outcomes. Collected in lithium heparin tubes

  4. Annexin-A1 in ng/ml

    Time frame: 6 months post-recruitment

    Stress- and anxiety- related inflammatory outcomes. Collected in lithium heparin tubes

  5. Interleukin-1-beta in pg/ml

    Time frame: Prior to start of intervention

    Stress- and anxiety- related inflammatory outcomes. Collected in lithium heparin tubes

  6. Interleukin-1-beta in pg/ml

    Time frame: 6 months post-recruitment

    Stress- and anxiety- related inflammatory outcomes. Collected in lithium heparin tubes

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

National University of Singapore

Other

Registry information

Official study title

"Where-there-is-no-psychiatrist Integrated Personal Therapy" Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial

Important dates

Study start
2019
Primary completion
2020
Study completion
2020
First posted
Jun 15, 2021
Registry last updated
Jun 15, 2021

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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