A RCT of Telephone-supported ACT in MS

University of Nottingham

Status and phase: Unknown; Phase 3

Conditions: Multiple Sclerosis

Treatments: Behavioral: Telephone-support Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02596633

14094

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study will investigate the feasibility of running a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of a psychotherapy called "Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)", delivered in a self-help format with additional telephone support from a therapist, for people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and low mood.

Full description

A large proportion of people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) suffer from emotional problems, therefore a large percentage of people with MS would be eligible to take part in a study offering a psychotherapeutic component to address these issues.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has been found to be effective for mood problems, and been successfully used in self-help format, but no study has thus-far examined potential for use as an effective intervention in this (MS) population.

People will MS and low mood will be recruited from a neurology outpatient clinic. They will be randomized to either receive treatment as usual, or an ACT self-help book with 8 supportive telephone calls from a trainee clinical psychologist. Measures of anxiety, depression, quality of life and physical health will be administered at baseline, post-intervention and six month follow up. A sub sample of 10 participants will be interviewed to find out their view on taking part in the study.

Enrollment: 30 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Diagnosis of MS. Over 7 on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale

Exclusion criteria

• Already receiving psychotherapy

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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30 participants in 2 patient groups

Treatment as Usual

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants carry on with their usual care

Intervention

Active Comparator group

Description:

ACT self help book with telephone support calls; Telephone-support Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT)

Treatment:

Behavioral: Telephone-support Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)