The Effects of the Pilgrimage in the Way of Saint James on Mental Health and Well-being (ULTREYA)

Fundació Sant Joan de Déu

Status: Completed

Conditions: Pilgrimage

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04141813

PIC-141-19

Details and patient eligibility

About

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the effects of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela on mood, satisfaction with life, happiness, ability to pay attention to the present moment and the capacity to make choices in a more conscious and values-oriented way. Other personal aspects that could be related to the effects of the Camino and that may also mediate some of its effects (e.g., personal reasons for walking, socialization along the Camino, number of days walked, physical pain associated with walking, previous pilgrimages to Santiago, etc.) will be also assessed.

Methods: This is a naturalistic study with a 3-month follow-up. Voluntary participation of pilgrims doing one of the "Way of Saint James" routes will be requested. Participants will be asked to complete an online questionnaire with sociodemographic data and outcome measures (e.g. mindfulness, satisfaction with life, depression, stress, anxiety) before starting the Camino, at the end of the Camino and 3 months later. These evaluations will help us discover the effects of the Camino de Santiago on mental health and well-being in the short- and mid-term.

For more information (and/or to participate), go to: http://estudiocamino.org/

Enrollment: 3,000 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Adults (> 18 years old)
• Willing to go on pilgrimage in the Way of Saint James
• With or without previous experience in this pilgrimage
• Walking or cycling in the pilgrimage
• Finishing or not at "Santiago de Compostela"
• Ability to understand and read Spanish or English
• With internet access (via PC or smatphone)
• With signed informed consent to participate in the present study

Exclusion criteria

• Not walking for 4 or more days
• With incomplete baseline data
• With baseline/post assessments >1 month previous starting/ending the pilgrimage

Trial design

3,000 participants in 1 patient group

Pilgrims doing the "Camino de Santiago" (any route)

Description:

In the present study we utilized the "Ultreya" dataset. The Ultreya study is an online longitudinal study aimed at evaluating the effects of the pilgrimage on the Way of Saint James on mental health and wellbeing (www.estudiocamino.org). This pilgrimage involves hundreds of paths around Europe with a common termination at Santiago de Compostela (Spain), and it was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during the Middle Ages. Currently, it is walked by thousands of people (\>300,000 per year).