The Acceptance of Reiki Therapy as a Complementary and Alternative Option for the Management of Chronic Pain

NCT ID: NCT03173872

Last Updated: 2017-09-12

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 30 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2017-04-06
• Study Completion Date: 2017-05-31

Brief Summary

For the past few years, the military has been looking for an innovative way to decrease the use of opioids for chronic pain. This has prompted military treatment facilities to begin integrating complementary and/or alternative medicine modalities into their conventional plans of care. Reiki, a bio-field energy therapy, is one such modality. The purpose of this prospective repeated measure study is to: 1) introduce the concept Reiki therapy to military healthcare beneficiaries experiencing chronic pain, 2) assess pain outcome after receiving six treatments of Reiki therapy, and 3) assess participant's impression of Reiki therapy as a possible complementary and/or alternative option for the management of chronic pain.

Thirty military healthcare beneficiaries with the complaint of chronic pain will receive a brief introduction to Reiki therapy followed by six 30-minute Reiki sessions provided by trained Reiki Level 1 Practitioner. Participant's knowledge of Reiki will be assessed using pre and post questionnaires; pain will be assessed using the Brief Pain Inventory, Defense Veterans Pain Rating Scale, DoD (Department of Defense) VA (Veteran's Administration) Pain Supplementary Questionnaire, McGill Pain Questionnaire and pain medication diaries; and participant's impression will be assessed using the Patient Global Impression of Improvement Scale and along with a post study questionnaire. If it is found that Reiki therapy helped in decreasing chronic pain outcomes, this treatment modality may be added to Landstuhl Regional Medical (LRMC) Pain Clinic's pool of complementary and alternative medicine options.

Conditions

Pain, Chronic

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

One Group Study Arm

One group study arm assesses pre Reiki and post Reiki intervention measures

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Reiki Protocol Hand Placement Procedures

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

Ten Reiki hand placement procedures will last 3 minutes each for a total Reiki session lasting 30 minutes long.

Interventions

Reiki Protocol Hand Placement Procedures

Ten Reiki hand placement procedures will last 3 minutes each for a total Reiki session lasting 30 minutes long.

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

1. Has chronic pain (defined as pain that lasts 3 months or more since first onset).

2. Is receiving a stable pain medication regimen (defined as a regimen that has not increased 10% to 20% in the past week prior to enrollment), if on pain medication.

3. Is affiliated with at least one of the 13 installations within the Kaiserslautern Military Community area

4. Is eligible to receive healthcare at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center

5. Is 18 years and older

6. Can read and speak English

7. Is able to commit to 6 treatments (approximately 2-3 weeks)

Exclusion Criteria

1. Have had surgery or a painful procedure in the last 30 days or are being scheduled for any surgeries or painful procedures during the duration of the study

2. Already have a working knowledge (e.g., credentialed Reiki Level I, II or III Practitioner or Reiki Master) of Reiki or have had Reiki therapy in the past

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center

FED

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Dr MeLisa Gantt

LTC (Ret.) MeLisa Gantt

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

MeLisa A Gantt, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Gantt Clinical Research Institute LLC

Locations

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center

Landstuhl, , Germany

Countries

Germany

Other Identifiers

M-10617

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id