Mindfulness App Versus Mindfulness-based Intervention for Healthcare Students

Instituto de Investigación Hospital Universitario La Paz

Status: Completed

Conditions: Students

Treatments: Behavioral: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program; Behavioral: REM Volver a casa

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03712319

DHAERMP

Details and patient eligibility

About

The main purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy of a mindfulness-based training app ('REM Volver a Casa') versus a regular, presence-based program (MBSR) on the reduction of anxiety and other factors related to the physician-patient relationship, in healthcare grade students.

Full description

Healthcare students suffer from higher levels of anxiety and depression than the general population. It compromises not only their mental health, but also the quality of care provided. Aptitudes such as empathy and self-compassion are essential to improve this deficit and overcome the well-known burnout syndrome.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program has proven to be an effective intervention for lowering stress in numerous studies. However, this intervention asks for a significant degree of personal involvement, thus the number of dropouts is often reported as a problem. New technologies might allow users to adapt training to their personal schedules.

The present randomized trial aims to compare the efficacy of a mindfulness-based training delivered through a mobile application ('REM Volver a Casa'), a presence-based program (MBSR), and a control group in healthcare grade students.

Enrollment: 154 patients

Sex: All

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Student of Medicine, Nutrition, Psychology or Nursing.
• Ability to read and understand Spanish language.
• Signature of Informed Consent.

Exclusion criteria

• Previous MBSR or anorther standardized Mindfulness training.
• Inability to read or understand Spanish language.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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154 participants in 3 patient groups

Group 1: App.

Experimental group

Description:

Participants use application "REM Volver a casa" on their cell phones during 8 weeks. Codes are provided to the students in order to unlock the different stages of the training free of charge. The application provides short videos and audios for training. Students practice on their own, in accordance with the instruction of completing a stage a week.

Treatment:

Behavioral: REM Volver a casa

Group 2: MBSR.

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants attend a presence-based training during 8 weeks. The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program involves a session of two and a half hours each week.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program

Group 3: Waiting list.

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants do not receive any intervention during the study. At the end of the study (16 weeks), they are provided with the codes so they can unlock the app and use it like participants from Group 1.