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Evaluation of a Tai Chi Resilience Training Program on Objective and Subjective Measures of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Severity

NCT04288830 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 63

Last updated 2023-04-11

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The standard of care for PTSD involves both psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy, but treatment resistance is common. The discovery of effective complementary treatment approaches would have major implications for patients with PTSD. Mindfulness meditation and related practices have been studied intensively in recent years for a variety of psychiatric illnesses, including depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and PTSD. Studies in PTSD suggest that mindful meditation holds promise. For example, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has shown effectiveness for reducing symptom severity and improving mental-health related quality of life in combat-exposed veterans and child survivors of sexual abuse. Mechanistically, mindfulness meditation appears to counteract the types of functional changes that have been identified in the brains of patients with PTSD. In particular, while PTSD symptoms are associated with decreased activation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and increased amygdala activity, mindfulness meditation is associated with increased PFC activation and decreased amygdala activation. Other physiological effects of mindfulness meditation in patients with PTSD are not fully defined. However, available data suggest that it leads to a normalization of vagal tone and plasma cortisol levels, which are known to be abnormal in patients with chronic PTSD. Research utilizing validated and standardized pre- and post- PTSD outcome measures, in addition to pre- and post- physiologic variables such a vagal tone, plasma cortisol and catecholamine levels, may better the understandings of physiological effects of mindfulness medication.

Conditions

  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
  • Tai Chi
  • Aerobic Exercise

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Tai Chi Moving Mindfulness Meditation and Resilience Training

Low-impact mind-body exercise adapted from traditional tai chi.

BEHAVIORAL

Aerobic Exercise

Low-impact aerobic exercise, led by instructor

Sponsors & Collaborators

Principal Investigators

  • Una McCann · Johns Hopkins University

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
65 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2021-10-15
Primary Completion
2022-07-27
Completion
2022-07-27

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Entities

Companies

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 NCT04288830 on ClinicalTrials.gov