Yoga and Aerobic Dance for Pain Management in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Pain; Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Treatments: Behavioral: Online yoga training (Group A); Behavioral: Online aerobic dance training (Group B)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03833609

CHEOREB#17/08X

Details and patient eligibility

About

The primary objectives of the proposed pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be to examine: (1) the feasibility of a full RCT to evaluate the effectiveness of two popular types of physical activity (PA), a yoga training program and an aerobic dance training program, in female adolescents (13 to 18 years old) with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) compared to a wait list control group; and (2) the acceptability of these interventions. A three-arm prospective randomized open-label study with a parallel group design will be used. A total of 25 in a ratio of 2:2:1 female adolescents with JIA who have pain will be randomized to one of the three groups: 1) online yoga training program (Group A) (n=10), 2) online aerobic dance training program (Group B) (n=10) and 3) waiting list control group (Group C) (n=5). Participants in groups A and B will complete three individual 1-hour sessions per week using online exercise videos, as well as one 1-hour virtual group session per week using a video-conferencing platform (GoToMeeting) for 12 weeks. These participants will also take part in weekly e-consultations with a research coordinator and discussions on Facebook with other participants. Participants from all groups will be given access to an electronic educational pamphlet on PA for arthritis developed by The Arthritis Society to review via an online platform. Feasibility, acceptability and usability of Facebook and GoToMeeting will be assessed at the end of the program. Pain intensity (Primary outcome), participation in general physical activity, morning stiffness, functional status, fatigue, self-efficacy and patient global assessment will be assessed using self-administered electronic surveys at baseline, weekly until the end of the 12 weeks program.

Full description

Objectives: The primary objectives of the proposed pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be to examine: (1) the feasibility of a full RCT to evaluate the effectiveness of two popular types of physical activity (PA), a yoga training program and an aerobic dance training program, in female adolescents (13 to 18 years old) with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) compared to a wait list control group; and (2) the acceptability of these interventions.

Methods: A three-arm prospective randomized open-label study with a parallel group design will be used. A total of 25 female adolescents with JIA who have pain will be randomized in a ratio of 2:2:1 to one of the three groups: 1) online yoga training program (Group A) (n=10), 2) online aerobic dance training program (Group B) (n=10) and 3) wait list control group (Group C) (n=5). Participants in groups A and B will complete three individual 1-hour sessions per week using online exercise videos, as well as one 1-hour virtual group session per week using a video-conferencing platform (GoToMeeting) for 12 weeks. These participants will also take part in weekly e-consultations with a research coordinator and discussions on Facebook with other participants. Participants from all groups will be given access to an electronic educational pamphlet on PA for arthritis developed by The Arthritis Society to review via an online platform. Feasibility (recruitment rates, self-reported adherence to the interventions, dropout rates, and percentage of missing data), acceptability and usability of Facebook and GoToMeeting will be assessed at the end of the program. Pain intensity (Primary outcome), participation in general physical activity, morning stiffness, functional status, fatigue, self-efficacy and patient global assessment will be assessed using self-administered electronic surveys at baseline, weekly until the end of the 12 weeks program.

Conclusion: To our knowledge this is the first study in paediatric patients to evaluate the effectiveness of yoga and aerobic dance as pain management interventions for female adolescents with JIA. The use of online tools such as Facebook and GoToMeeting to disseminate these two PA interventions may facilitate access to alternative methods of pain management in this population. The study design incorporates randomization and allocation concealment to ensure internal validity. To avoid intergroup contamination, the Facebook group page security settings will be set to "closed", thus only allowing invited participants to access it. Study limitations include the lack of participant blinding due to the characteristics of this physical intervention pilot randomized controlled trial and a potential bias of recruiting more severe hospital-based participants. Reporting of the study follows the Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for interventional trials (SPIRIT) statement. This study can lead to a full-scale RCT.

Enrollment: 25 estimated patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 13 to 18 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Female adolescents aged between 13 -18 years old
• Diagnosis of JIA by a rheumatologist according to ILAR criteria
• Absence of serious co-morbidities, chronic diseases or of chronic pain that is unrelated to JIA (e.g., cancer, fibromyalgia), which may impact ability to understand and use the exercise program or complete outcome assessments (as determined by the treating rheumatologist)
• Presence of arthritis-related pain during regular activities of at least 30 on a 100-millimeter (mm) visual analogue scale (VAS) in the past month
• JIA specific medication regimen not expected to change during the study period
• Self-reported as not meeting Health Canada's and American College of Sports Medicine's guidelines for PA (<60 minutes of moderate to vigorous PA per day) and not using physical interventions/treatments other than medication prescribed for JIA pain relief or over the counter medication
• Capable of using and accessing the Internet weekly for the study duration
• No contraindications to exercise (according to the treating rheumatologist)
• Understand English

Exclusion criteria

• Moderate to severe cognitive impairments (as determined by the treating rheumatologist)
• Presence of serious co-morbidities, chronic illnesses or of chronic pain that is unrelated to JIA (e.g., cancer, fibromyalgia), which may impact ability to understand and use the exercise program or complete outcome assessments (as determined by the treating rheumatologist)
• Presence of pain during regular activities lower than 30mm on a 100 mm VAS in the past month
• Self-reported as physically active according to Health Canada's and American College of Sports Medicine's PA guidelines (≥60 minutes of moderate to vigorous PA per day) or using physical interventions/agents other than medication prescribed for JIA pain relief or over the counter medication
• JIA specific medication regimen expected to change during the study period
• Incapable of using and accessing the Internet weekly during the study duration
• Presence of contraindications to exercise
• Do not understand English

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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25 participants in 3 patient groups

Online yoga training (Group A)

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will receive an e-pamphlet on physical exercise developed by The Arthritis Society, and will be invited to complete a yoga training program. The yoga training program is a structured low-intensity Vishwas-Raj. Participants will be asked to complete three individual 1-hour sessions per week for 12 consecutive weeks by watching a previously filmed session led by a qualified yoga instructor and posted on Facebook. They will also take part in a 1-hour virtual group session per week using a video-conferencing platform. Participants will also participate in weekly e-consultations with a research coordinator and discussions on Facebook with other participants.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Online yoga training (Group A)

Online aerobic dance training (Group B)

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will receive the e-pamphlet on physical exercise and will be invited to complete an aerobic dance program. The aerobic dance program is a low to moderate intensity level program and will also use a video. The video, adapted for youth with JIA, was developed with feedback from a JIA patient with experience in aerobic dance and a physiotherapist with experience in pediatric rheumatology. The aerobic dance program will have the same characteristics in terms of frequency, total number of sessions and total duration as the yoga program (i.e., three 1-hour individual sessions and one 1-hour virtual group session per week for 12 weeks). Participants will also participate in weekly e-consultations with a research coordinator and discussions on Facebook with other participants.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Online aerobic dance training (Group B)

Wait list control (Group C)

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants will receive the e-pamphlet on physical exercise and will be instructed to continue with their current medical care while they are on the wait list (12 weeks). After the completion of the study, the yoga and aerobic dance training videos will be available to all participants including those in the control group. In recruitment documents, this group will be termed the e-pamphlet group.