SMART Program in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Treatments: Behavioral: Stress Management and Resilience Training Program; Behavioral: Self-Management Stress Reduction Program

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03454386

IRB#18-000235

Details and patient eligibility

About

This is a pilot study to determine the efficacy of the Stress Management and Resilience Training (SMART) program in improving gastrointestinal and psychological symptoms, health-related quality of life, and satisfaction of care in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Half of the participants will be enrolled in the SMART program initially. The other half will be placed in a self-management stress reduction program where they will read a popular stress reduction book over 12 weeks. Then they will have access to participate in the online SMART program.

Full description

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by abdominal pain related to defecation and associated with changes in stool frequency and/or form. IBS is a stress sensitive disorder and its severity has been shown to be moderated by both acute and chronic stress. Furthermore, resilience, which is defined as the ability to positively adapt and thrive in the presence of stressors and adversity, has been shown to be lower in those with IBS and associated with more severe symptoms. Therapies aimed at stress reduction in IBS have been found to be effective in the management of IBS. To our knowledge, there are no reports in the literature of a therapy to target resilience in the IBS patient population.

The Stress Management and Resilience Training (SMART) program was developed by Dr. A. Sood at the Mayo clinic to reduce stress, decrease symptoms related to stress and enhance resiliency. This is accomplished by targeting human attention and interpretation of events, people and the world. Furthermore, methods to strengthen the skills of gratitude, compassion, acceptance, forgiveness and understanding of a higher meaning are taught. Previous studies have demonstrated that this program can improve stress, anxiety, resilience and quality of life of participants.

Enrollment: 39 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 70 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Those with a diagnosis of IBS based on the Rome IV diagnostic criteria (recurrent abdominal pain at least once per week in the last 3 months associated with 2 of the following: related to defecation, associated with a change in stool frequency, associated with a change in stool form. Symptoms must have started 6 months prior to presentation)
• Between the ages of 18 and 70
• English speaking
• Are able to provide written, informed consent
• At least moderate IBS symptoms (based on an IBS symptom severity scale score [IBS-SSS] of 175 or higher)
• At least moderate levels of perceived stress (based on a perceived stress score of 14 or higher
• If receiving pharmacologic therapy for IBS, they must be on a stable dose for 30 days prior to enrollment

Exclusion criteria

• History of gastrointestinal disease including celiac disease, cirrhosis, gastrointestinal malignancy, inflammatory bowel disease
• History of gastrointestinal surgery (except appendectomy and cholecystectomy or gallbladder removal >6 months ago)
• Poorly controlled psychiatric disease such as severe depression (with or without suicidal ideation), severe anxiety, schizophrenia, dementia
• Currently receiving, or have received in the last 6 months, other stress reduction therapies such as mindfulness based stress reduction, meditation
• Excessive alcohol intake (up to 1 drink per day for females and 2 drinks per day for males)
• Illicit substance use
• High dose opiate use
• Pregnancy
• Non-English speaking
• Inability to provide written informed consent

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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39 participants in 2 patient groups

Active Treatment

Active Comparator group

Description:

Stress Management and Resilience Training Program This group will be initially enrolled in the program.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Stress Management and Resilience Training Program

Control

Other group

Description:

Self-Management Stress Reduction Program This group will be placed in a self-management stress reduction program. During this time these participants will be given a popular stress reduction book to read over 12 weeks. They will complete questionnaires at weeks 4 and 12. After the 12 weeks, this group will be enrolled in the online SMART program and complete assessments at week 24 (upon completion of the program.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Self-Management Stress Reduction Program