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This is a parallel-group randomised-controlled trial aiming to assess the effect of exposure to the arts on mental health and wellbeing of community dwelling recipients of mental health care. The trial constitutes a comparison of two arms: An Art Intervention arm, hereby the Active Group (AG), versus a waitlist control arm (WL).
Full description
Design:
This is a randomised controlled trial with two arms: art intervention (any of the arts interventions, see below), which we call here Active Group (AG) vs waitlist control (WL). This is a new RCT that is based on a previous RCT performed in 2024 (NCT06361667). This trial has been approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee (Institutional Review Board; Epitropi Vioithikis kai Deontologias) of the UMHRI in Greece (UMHRI session 7/15-10-2024).
This trial will be conducted as part of the novel Arts on Prescription initiative of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture in Greece and at several Ministry-of-Culture-approved Organisations from the field of arts and culture. The University Mental Health, Neurosciences and Precision Medicine Research Institute 'COSTAS STEFANIS' (UMHRI) was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture to organize and conduct the RCT. In the beginning, an open invitation to institutions of culture and mental health has been sent. Cultural organizations presented their action plans for interventional courses.
After quality control by the UMHRI and the Ministry of Culture. the following cultural organizations provided approved action plans: National Gallery - Alexandros Soutsos Museum, National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens, Athens Concert Hall Organization, Greek National Opera, Athens Conservatoire, Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), Nikolaos and Dolly Goulandris Foundation - Museum of Cycladic Art, Galilee Palliative Care Centre of the Holy Metropolis of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki, Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki Concert Hall Organization, Metropolitan Organisation of Museums of Visual Arts of Thessaloniki (MOMus)", Kazantzakis Museum, Paul and Alexandra Canellopoulos Museum, National School of Dance (KSOT), Municipal Regional Theatre of Ioannina, National Theatre of Northern Greece, Drama International Short Film Festival (DISFF) Cultural Organization, and Heraklion Archaeological Museum.
AG consists of art intervention sessions that have been a priori developed by each cultural organization, specific to the field of each cultural organization (i.e., theatre, dance, visual arts, music, cinema). The intervention sessions have been elaborated and enhanced based on the previous experience of the NCT06361667 trial; specifically, the differences versus the NCT06361667 trial are the following: i. all Cultural Organizations are offering weekly sessions and there is no variability in the total number of sessions provided, ii. a larger sample is included in this trial to improve the precision of estimates and be able to detect smaller effect sizes (given the potential scalability and public health relevance of the intervention (Carey et al., 2023) and iii. this trial includes Cultural Organizations and therefore patients beyond the metropolitan areas of Athens and Thessaloniki.
Participants will be randomly allocated to AG or WL for 12 weeks; that marks the end of the trial period. After completion of the 12-week trial, people who were included in the WL will have the opportunity to receive art on prescription by the Cultural Organizations the participated in the trial, should they wish to take this up.
Randomisation will be performed separately in each Cultural Organization and will be carried out using a computer-generated list provided centrally by SIBA Soft (Athens, Greece), an independent software and project management company.
Frequency of Measurement:
Data will be collected at baseline, including gender, age, educational level, marital status, socioeconomic characteristics, and mental health conditions. The primary and the secondary outcomes will be measured at time points:
Interventional Model Description:
The duration of the RCT will be 12 weeks. The AG group will engage in different art forms (theatre, dance, visual arts, music, and cinema), whereas the WL group will remain in the waiting list.
The AG intervention will consist of sessions and/or performances in one of the five art forms: theatre, dance, visual arts, music and cinema. The number of sessions/performances will be 12 for all art forms over the duration of the trial, based on the specific features of each Cultural Organization.
The intervention activities in the AG group have been organized by each site and approved by the UMHRI and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture creating a space for 8-16 participants per activity.
The intervention consists of weekly visits over three months, featuring a guided tour followed by an art activity. All activities will include a discussion group, fostering reflection and connection, and each session will last approximately 1.5 to 2 hours. UMHRI and Ministry of Culture-approved, experienced professionals from the fields of mental health and arts, will lead the intervention sessions ensuring the safety and support of participants.
Statistical analysis model and sample size calculation We will follow standard practice for RCTs and apply a linear mixed effects model with random intercepts to estimate the effects of treatment, time, with interaction terms for treatment (AG treatment) and time (6 and 12 weeks). The inference of interest for the study concerns the interaction term at week 12.
Assuming correlation coefficients equal to r_0_6_weeks = 0.71, r_0_12_weeks = 0.65 and r_6_12_weeks = 0.69 for the 0-6, 0-12 and 6-12 week intercorrelations, respectively, in the primary outcome values (PHQ-9), with a standard deviation of 5.60 at week 12 (numbers drawn from the results of the NCT06361667 trial) and a Cohen's d for the interaction term that is equal to 0.258 at week 12 for PHQ-9, at a type I error set at 5%, 205 participants per intervention arm would be needed for the achievement of 80% statistical power; importantly, assuming an anticipated 20% loss at follow-up rate, the total number required is 410/0.8, yielding 512 participants (256 participants by treatment arm). The power calculation was performed using the GLIMMPSE online statistical software (https://glimmpse.samplesizeshop.org/)
We will carry out sensitivity analyses including site as a fixed/random effects factor in the models. In case of missing longitudinal data, we will also perform sensitivity analyses using maximum likelihood / Last Observation Carried Forward (LOCF) approaches.
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Inclusion and exclusion criteria
The study will be advertised to public and private mental health professionals across Greece, including those in public hospitals, day care centres, and non-governmental and non-profit organisations. Clinicians will then refer potential participants to the study.
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
Primary purpose
Allocation
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512 participants in 2 patient groups
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Central trial contact
Nikos Stefanis, MD, PhD, FRANZCP
Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov
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