Writing About Experiences and Health in Older Adults

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Social Psychology

Treatments: Behavioral: Writing: Group 1; Other: Writing: Group 2

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT02472379

GEN

UL1TR000124 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

R03AG049254 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

F31AG048668 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

UCLA researchers looking for healthy females (age 60+) to participate in a study investigating how writing about your experiences may be related to your health.

Once a week for 6 weeks, participants will write about their experiences and fill out online questionnaires. Participants will also come to the UCLA campus for blood draws and to fill out questionnaires 3 times: once prior to the 6-week writing period, once immediately after the 6-week period, and once 2-months after the writing period.

Enrollment: 78 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 60 to 100 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Healthy adults 60 years and older

Exclusion criteria

• Following a structured telephone interview, participants with the following conditions will not be able to participate:

  1. current smokers
  2. active, uncontrolled medical disorders
  3. chronic infection (e.g., Hepatitis C, HIV)
  4. use of certain medications (e.g., hypnotic and psychotropic medication, steroid use, opioid use)
  5. psychiatric disorders (e.g., current major depression, bipolar disorder)
  6. body mass index (BMI) greater than 35

Other exclusion criteria may apply.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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78 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Writing: Group 1

Experimental group

Description:

Subjects will be asked to write about experiences with familiar individuals in their lives.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Writing: Group 1

Writing: Group 2

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Subjects will be asked to write about experiences with familiar places in their lives.

Treatment:

Other: Writing: Group 2