Trial on Outpatients With Systemic Sclerosis Treated With Well-Being Therapy or With a Control Therapy

University of Florence (UNIFI)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Systemic Sclerosis

Treatments: Behavioral: Control condition; Behavioral: Well-Being Therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04212247

WBT in SSc

Details and patient eligibility

About

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare and potentially life-threatening autoimmune disorder with a significant impact on health and quality of life. The non-pharmacological interventions address to psychological sequalae currently available are limited and have poor efficacy. Well-Being Therapy (WBT) is a brief psychotherapy which has shown efficacy in decreasing the relapse rates of depression in adults, in generalized anxiety disorder and in cyclothymia. WBT has never been tested in SSc and it might represent a useful complementary therapeutic option to improve SSc patients' well-being. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the psychological status of the SSc patients and to test the efficacy of WBT in a sample of SSc patients if compared to a control condition.

Full description

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare, multisystem, chronic autoimmune connective tissue disease characterized by fibrosis of the skin and internal organs, skin thickening, and decreased organ functioning leading to dermatologic, vascular, pulmonary, cardiac, gastrointestinal, neurological, musculoskeletal, and renal complications. SSc patients often suffer from psychological impairments, such as depression, anxiety about disease progression, body image dissatisfaction and low self-esteem. The non-pharmacological interventions for the treatment of the psychological sequelae of systemic sclerosis currently available are limited and have shown poor efficacy. Well-Being Therapy (WBT) is a brief psychotherapy which has been manualized in 2016 and has shown efficacy in randomized clinical trials. It showed to be effective in decreasing the relapse rates of depression in adults, it showed to be effective in generalized anxiety disorder and in cyclothymia. No psychological treatment aimed at empowering the level of psychological well-being rather than at working on distress in SSc patients have been implemented although it was shown that such kind of interventions directly increase the level of psychological well-being and indirectly decrease the level of psychological distress (i.e., anxious and depressive symptoms) in subjects affected by chronic diseases. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the psychological status of SSc patients with specific attention to suffering and mental pain, and to test the efficacy of WBT in SSc subjects if compared to a control condition. Thus, sixty outpatients with a diagnosis of SSc will be enrolled and will receive WBT or the control condition.

Enrollment: 60 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 75 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. able and interested in participating to the research, as proved by signed Informed consent;
2. a diagnosis of SSc (limited or diffuse) according to LeRoy et al. (1998);
3. age higher than 18 years

Exclusion criteria

1. co-occurrence of psychiatric disorder(s) according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders, 5th edition (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) as diagnosed via the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview;
2. currently under psychotherapy;
3. change of the pharmacological treatment (including psychotropic medications) during the last three months.
4. any other condition that, according to the Investigators' opinion, may alter the ability of the patient to follow study procedures.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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60 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Well-being therapy

Experimental group

Description:

WBT will be used as the only non-pharmacological therapeutic strategy and 8 sessions will be delivered every other week with a duration of 60 minutes each. The manualized WBT will be used (Fava, 2016). Thus, the initial phase will be concerned with self-observation of psychological well-being. Once the instances of well-being will be properly recognized, the patient will be encouraged to identify thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors leading to premature interruption of well-being (intermediate phase). The final part will involve cognitive restructuring of dysfunctional dimensions of psychological well-being and meeting the challenge that optimal experiences may entail.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Well-Being Therapy

Control condition

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

The control condition will include 8 every other week sessions based on Lifestyle and well-being National Institute for health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines (https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/lifestyle-andwellbeing) and on World Health Organization 12 steps to healthy eating (http://www.euro.who.int/en/ health-topics/disease-prevention/nutrition/a-healthylifestyle). These sessions will inform participants about well-being and lifestyles which can influence it.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Control condition