Yoga in Adult Cancer: A Feasibility Trial

NCT ID: NCT02309112

Last Updated: 2015-02-10

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 15 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2014-04-30
• Study Completion Date: 2014-08-31

Brief Summary

A feasibility study to determine the appropriateness of yoga intervention to improve health-related quality of life in adult cancer patients.

Detailed Description

A prospective, mixed methods feasibility trial allocated participants to receive one of three yoga interventions over a four-week study period. Data collection was completed through online survey of QOL-CA/CS and customized surveys.

Conditions

Quality of Life

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Yoga Group A: Minimum Exposure

The minimum-exposure yoga package, this intervention included 45-minutes of contact time with a trained yoga professional. In Week 1, this session included a 30-minute introductory session focussing on pranayama (breathing techniques), as well as a brief introduction to available community-based and online yoga to encourage a safe home-based practice (15-minutes). Financial subsidy, compensation or special promotion of any particular yoga was not provided. Participants were invited to stay for a social discussion following the yoga class.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Yoga

Intervention Type: OTHER

A mind-body therapy that includes specified breathing, meditation and physical postures.

Yoga Group B: Medium Exposure

The medium-exposure yoga package, this intervention included the components of Group A, with an additional 30-minute orientation and safety training of how to practice yoga dhyana (meditation techniques) and asana (physical postures) in Week 1. Participants were then invited to stay and ask questions following the yoga class. A pre-paid online yoga membership to http://www.myyogaonline.com was offered for the duration of the study (Weeks 1 to 4). In addition to this, one 120-minute workshop to further develop yoga pranayama, dhyana and asana training was administered by an expert instructor during Week 2 or 3.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Yoga

Intervention Type: OTHER

A mind-body therapy that includes specified breathing, meditation and physical postures.

Yoga Group C: Maximum Exposure

The maximum-dose yoga package, this intervention includes the components of Group A, with the same 30-minute orientation and safety training of how to practice yoga dhyana (meditation techniques) and asana (physical postures) in Week 1. Participants were invited to stay and ask questions following the yoga class. As in Group B, a pre-paid online yoga membership to http://www.myyogaonline.com was also provided for the duration of the study (Weeks 1 to 4). Participants were then invited to attend three 60-minute yoga group classes led by an expert yoga instructor per week (Weeks 1 to 4). These yoga sessions were held in a clinical setting in proximity to their treatment location and delivered at no cost to the patient.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Yoga

Intervention Type: OTHER

A mind-body therapy that includes specified breathing, meditation and physical postures.

Interventions

Yoga

A mind-body therapy that includes specified breathing, meditation and physical postures.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

1. Male and female adult cancer patients 19 years of age or older

2. Patients receiving or planning to receive conventional treatment that includes at least one of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormone therapy or active surveillance within 28 days

3. Patients in any stage of cancer diagnoses of all tumour types and locations

4. Participants with internet access and willingness to participate in online communication

5. Participants with access to transportation and personal willingness to attend meetings in central Vancouver, Canada.

6. Participants fluent in the English language

Exclusion Criteria

1. Patients with any physical limitation, risk of personal injury or under proscription of light to moderate physical activity

2. Patients with pre or post surgical interventions were excluded due to potential physical limitations or safety concerns with wound healing

3. Regular or experienced practitioners of yoga were excluded and defined as those patients reporting current or historical use of regular yoga (>2 session per month in past 12 months)

4. Patients undergoing medical treatment for serious psychological disturbances that might have interfered with adherence to protocol and/or ability to provide informed consent were excluded (e.g. multiple personality disorders, severe depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder)

• Minimum Eligible Age: 19 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

University of British Columbia

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

British Columbia Cancer Agency

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Oxford

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Melanie McDonald, MSW

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Vancouver-BCCA

References

McCall M, McDonald M, Thorne S, Ward A, Heneghan C. Yoga for Health-Related Quality of Life in Adult Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Feasibility Study. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2015;2015:816820. doi: 10.1155/2015/816820. Epub 2015 Jun 11.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 26170884 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

OXTREC 534-14

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id