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Effectiveness of a Mindfulness Smartphone App to Reduce Emotional Distress in People With Cancer Waiting for Surgery

NCT04184557 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 102

Last updated 2021-07-20

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Lung cancer and colorectal cancer accounted for the highest number of cancer deceases in 2016. Incidence is around 3.500 cases per year and patients are more commonly men (56%) aged around 69. This study focuses on people with a recent diagnosis of cancer who have been scheduled for surgery.

Evidence suggests that around 11% of people with cancer suffer from anxiety or adjustment disorders and 6,5% hold a diagnosis of major depressive disorder. Moreover, the perioperative period is the most distressing phase of the illness. However, a high number of patients do not have access to mental health services due to either limited resources and geographical limitations or the fear of being stigmatized. The aim is to explore the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention for smartphones designed to reduce pre-surgical distress. It was conceived as a medical tool of prevention), with the purpose of diminishing emotional suffering and clinical complications after surgery. In 2020 Internet will be the most developed technology and almost everyone will have a smartphone; hence, an app for stress reduction will fit in this growing field.

Mindfulness is defined as the ability to pay attention to the present moment with a curious, non-judgmental attitude. Its training consists of both formal meditation practices and informal daily exercises. Mindfulness-based interventions are growing in our National Health System and rigorous researches are being conducted exhibiting good results regarding its effectiveness. However, the fact that Mindfulness instructors must be highly qualified makes these kinds of interventions exceedingly costly to implement. This team is experienced with mindfulness and has developed the app "En Calma en el Quirófano" ("Staying Calm in the OR") to reduce distress before surgery. It consists of a free, accessible, on-demand, short training through a series of guided meditation practices.

In this randomized controlled trial, participants are assigned either to the experimental ("Staying Calm in the OR") or the control arm (treatment as usual). The investigators expect anxiety and depression to be lower in the experimental arm; in addition, the researchers expect that "Staying Calm in the OR" participants will show higher levels of post-surgery recovery.

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Staying Calm in the OR

"Staying Calm in the OR" is a mindfulness-based stress-reduction smartphone tailored for people who are waiting for surgery. It consists of a free, accessible, on-demand, short training through a series of guided meditation practices. They are based on widely studied mindfulness-based programs, such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) ir Mindfulness Self Compassion (MSC).

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Instituto de Investigación Hospital Universitario La Paz

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Beatriz Rodríguez-Vega, PhD · La Paz University Hospital; Madrid Autonomous University

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
100 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2019-02-15
Primary Completion
2020-04-01
Completion
2020-04-01

Countries

  • Spain

Study Locations

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Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT04184557 on ClinicalTrials.gov