A Trial of Neurocognitive and Supportive Therapy Interventions for Individuals With Parkinson's Disease

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Mild Cognitive Impairment; Parkinson's Disease

Treatments: Behavioral: Supportive Therapy; Behavioral: Memory and Problem-Solving Intervention

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01646333

PT107964

Details and patient eligibility

About

This randomized, controlled trial (RCT) evaluates the benefits of memory and problem solving training compared to supportive therapy in individuals with Parkinson's Disease with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and their support persons. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive memory and problem solving training or supportive therapy for 2-months. A 6-month follow up evaluation will establish if benefits remain over time. Impact of these therapies on thinking abilities, physical health, and patient and support person ratings of thinking skills, mood and quality of life will be evaluated. The memory and problem solving training is hypothesized to result in greater improvements and/or stability of function on neuropsychological tests of attention, working memory, learning, and memory skills compared to the supportive therapy condition. Both conditions are hypothesized to result in improved mood and quality of life ratings.

Results from this study will determine whether memory and problem solving therapies and supportive therapy are easily used by and beneficial for individuals with Parkinson's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment. If positive benefit is observed, information from this study will be used to further optimize these therapies for larger trials designed to evaluate the value of the therapies for individuals with Parkinson's Disease and their support persons.

Full description

The memory and problem solving training consists of a day calendar manual and note taking system and problem solving techniques. The supportive therapy offers patients and support persons the opportunity to discuss and reflect upon both Parkinson's Disease and non-Parkinson's Disease related problems.

Enrollment: 32 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Clinical diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease
• Clinical diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment

Exclusion criteria

• Clinical diagnosis of Dementia
• Clinical diagnosis of other Parkinson's Disease-associated comorbid conditions (e.g., severe anxiety, depression, excessive daytime sleepiness, or psychosis) that significantly influence cognitive testing

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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32 participants in 2 patient groups

Supportive Therapy

Active Comparator group

Description:

The supportive therapy offers patients and support persons the opportunity to discuss and reflect upon both Parkinson's Disease and non-Parkinson's Disease related problems.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Supportive Therapy

Memory and Problem-Solving Intervention

Experimental group

Description:

The memory and problem solving training consists of a day calendar manual and note taking system and problem solving techniques. The neurocognitive memory intervention was adapted from a 6-week manualized day calendar and note taking system previously evaluated in an amnestic MCI sample and a brain tumor sample. The problem solving intervention was adapted from an originally 12-week intervention, which was later adapted into a 6-week brain tumor sample.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Memory and Problem-Solving Intervention