Motivational Interviewing to Enhance Adherence of Patients With Psychogenic Non-epileptic Seizures

NCT ID: NCT02598076

Last Updated: 2019-04-24

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 60 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2015-08-31
• Study Completion Date: 2017-06-30

Brief Summary

All subjects will attend an initial clinic visit with the neuropsychiatrist and epileptologist. At the end of this visit, those subjects randomized to motivational interviewing will be questioned using standardized motivational interviewing techniques by the study author who is a board certified neurologist and who will have formal training and certification in motivational interviewing.

Those subjects randomized to the control group will also undergo an initial clinic visit with a neuropsychiatrist and neurologists. However they will not undergo any subsequent motivational interview. Following the initial clinic visit, all subjects with ongoing seizures will either be scheduled for ongoing psychotherapy for treatment of PNES at Brigham and Women's Hospital or referred to a local psychotherapist according to their preference.

All subjects will be contacted by phone at 3 month follow-up. If necessary they will be called 5 times at various times during the day and early evening. If they are not reached, they will receive a letter requesting them to contact the study staff to complete the study. Subjects will be questioned about their adherence to treatment. The primary outcome will be the number of psychotherapy sessions for the treatment of PNES in which they have participated over the past three months. They will also be assessed for secondary outcomes including dichotomous adherence (either seizure freedom or active participation in psychotherapy for the treatment of PNES, with more than 5 sessions over the past 3 months), seizure frequency over the past month, number of hospitalizations and emergency department visits over the past 3 months, and quality of life as measured by the brief QOLIE-10 instrument. For those patients who give permission, their psychotherapists will be contacted by study staff to confirm the exact number of psychotherapy sessions over the past 3 months. A standard Partners clinical records release form with the patient's signature will be sent to the therapist's office.

Detailed Description

Specific Aim: To determine whether motivational interviewing improves adherence to treatment (primary outcome), seizure frequency, healthcare usage, and quality of life (secondary outcomes).

Hypothesis: A brief in-person interview, using motivational interviewing techniques in addition to standard psychotherapy, will improve adherence, seizure frequency, healthcare usage, and quality of life at 6-month follow-up among patients with PNES when compared to a control group receiving only standard psychotherapy.

Baseline demographic data, psychiatric comorbidities, seizure frequency, quality of life, and healthcare resource utilization will be recorded following enrollment during the inpatient stay as part of PHRC IRB protocol 2013P000133. If the patient is not enrolled in protocol 2013P000133, baseline demographic data, seizure data, psychiatric comorbidities, qualities of life and healthcare resource utilization will be collected during the admission at which the patient is diagnosed. All enrolled subjects will be scheduled for an initial appointment in the joint psychiatry-neurology clinic with a board certified neuropsychiatrist and board certified neurologists, which is standard of care for newly diagnosed PNES patients at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

All subjects will attend the initial clinic visit with the neuropsychiatrist and epileptologist. At the end of this visit, those subjects randomized to motivational interviewing will be questioned using standardized motivational interviewing techniques by the study author who is a board certified neurologist and who will have formal training and certification in motivational interviewing.

Motivational interviews will include the classical 4 steps of MI:

1. engagement (in which the patient's goals and interests are elicited and the therapeutic alliance is established);

2. focusing (in which the specific subjects of discussion and intervention are negotiated);

3. strengthening motivation (in which the patients' reasons for healthcare intervention are made explicit, discussed, and reinforced); and

4. planning (in which actions for healthcare intervention are planned out based on the patients' own goals and interests).

The initial clinic visit and subsequent interview will be recorded with the patients' consent, and blinded reviewers hired through the department of psychiatry, trained and certified in motivational interviewing, will score the audio recordings using the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity code (MITI) 4.0 to assess fidelity to standardized motivational interviewing techniques. Recordings and blinded review of interviews are for the sole purpose of ensuring that the interviewer is in fact using proper interviewing techniques (ie motivational interviewing techniques for patients in the motivational interviewing arm and abstinence from motivational interviewing techniques in the control arm). Such recordings and review are recommended in motivational interviewing research.

Those subjects randomized to the control group will also undergo an initial clinic visit with a neuropsychiatrist and neurologists - again recorded with the subjects' consent and scored using the MITI 4.0 to assess abstinence from motivational interviewing techniques. However they will not undergo any subsequent motivational interview. Following the initial clinic visit, all subjects with ongoing seizures will either be scheduled for ongoing psychotherapy for treatment of PNES at Brigham and Women's Hospital or referred to a local psychotherapist according to their preference.

All subjects will be contacted by phone at 3 month follow-up. If necessary they will be called 5 times at various times during the day and early evening. If they are not reached, they will receive a letter requesting them to contact the study staff to complete the study. Subjects will be questioned about their adherence to treatment. The primary outcome will be the number of psychotherapy sessions for the treatment of PNES in which they have participated over the past three months. They will also be assessed for secondary outcomes including dichotomous adherence (either seizure freedom or active participation in psychotherapy for the treatment of PNES, with more than 5 sessions over the past 3 months), seizure frequency over the past month, number of hospitalizations and emergency department visits over the past 3 months, and quality of life as measured by the brief QOLIE-10 instrument. For those patients who give permission, their psychotherapists will be contacted by study staff to confirm the exact number of psychotherapy sessions over the past 3 months. A standard Partners clinical records release form with the patient's signature will be sent to the therapist's office.

Conditions

Psychogenic Non-epileptic Seizures, Motivational Interviewing

Study Design

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

Study Groups

control

Group will receive standard treatment for psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. They will undergo an initial clinic visit with a neuropsychiatrist and neurologists. They will not undergo any subsequent motivational interview. Following the initial clinic visit, all subjects with ongoing seizures will either be scheduled for ongoing psychotherapy for treatment of PNES at Brigham and Women's Hospital or referred to a local psychotherapist according to their preference.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

standard psychotherapy

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Standard cognitive behavioral therapy based psychotherapy for the treatment of PNES

MI

Group will receive an initial clinic visit with a neuropsychiatrist and neurologists, identical to the initial clinic visit for the control group. In addition they will receive 1 session of motivational interviewing immediately following the initial clinic visit. These patients will be questioned using standardized motivational interviewing techniques by the study author who is a board certified neurologist and who has formal training and certification in motivational interviewing.

Following the initial clinic visit, all subjects with ongoing seizures will either be scheduled for ongoing psychotherapy for treatment of PNES at Brigham and Women's Hospital or referred to a local psychotherapist according to their preference (identical treatment in control and MI arms).

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

motivational interviewing

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Motivational interviews will include the classical 4 steps of MI: 1) engagement (in which the patient's goals and interests are elicited and the therapeutic alliance is established); 2) focusing (in which the specific subjects of discussion and intervention are negotiated); 3) strengthening motivation (in which the patients' reasons for healthcare intervention are made explicit, discussed, and reinforced); and 4) planning (in which actions for healthcare intervention are planned out based on the patients' own goals and interests). MI will be performed by the study author who is a board certified neurologist and who has formal training and certification in motivational interviewing.

standard psychotherapy

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Standard cognitive behavioral therapy based psychotherapy for the treatment of PNES

Interventions

motivational interviewing

Motivational interviews will include the classical 4 steps of MI: 1) engagement (in which the patient's goals and interests are elicited and the therapeutic alliance is established); 2) focusing (in which the specific subjects of discussion and intervention are negotiated); 3) strengthening motivation (in which the patients' reasons for healthcare intervention are made explicit, discussed, and reinforced); and 4) planning (in which actions for healthcare intervention are planned out based on the patients' own goals and interests). MI will be performed by the study author who is a board certified neurologist and who has formal training and certification in motivational interviewing.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

standard psychotherapy

Standard cognitive behavioral therapy based psychotherapy for the treatment of PNES

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• The study population will be screened from all patients diagnosed with PNES in Brigham and Women's Hospital by capture of a definitive event on video EEG without EEG correlate.
• Patients with a mixed diagnosis of both PNES and epileptic seizures will be included.

Exclusion Criteria

• Pediatric patients (under age 18) are not evaluated by EEG in our hospital and will therefore be excluded
• Estimated IQ<70
• Active substance use disorder
• Pregnancy or active medical issues anticipated to preclude participation in weekly psychotherapy

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

American Academy of Neurology

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Brigham and Women's Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Benjamin Tolchin

Clinical Fellow

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Barbara Dworetzky, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Locations

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Countries

United States

Provided Documents

Document Type: Study Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Other Identifiers

2015P001152

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id