Can a Flavonoid-rich Pure Cocoa Reduce Fatigue in People With Parkinson's (PD)

NCT ID: NCT03288155

Last Updated: 2019-09-06

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 30 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2017-07-01
• Study Completion Date: 2019-01-01

Brief Summary

This study determines to evaluate the effectiveness of the daily consumption of flavonoid-rich cocoa in the treatment of fatigue in Parkinson's patients. The participants were divided equally between the flavonoid-rich cocoa (device) and control cocoa groups. The participant will engage in a six day trial, with measures taken at Day 1 and Day 6.

Detailed Description

Many pwPD have expressed their interest in dietary therapies to manage their symptoms; however scientific evidence for these therapies is lacking. Flavonoids, plant compounds found in certain foods, may have the ability to improve fatigue. However, to date, no well-designed intervention studies assessing the role of flavonoid consumption for fatigue management in pwPD have been performed.

The aim of this project is to undertake a feasibility preliminary study to determine whether flavonoid-rich cocoa has the potential to improve fatigue in pwPD in order to inform a follow on trial. Participants will be recruited from the European Parkinson Therapy Centre (EPTC) and will be those about to enrol onto the 6 day program. They will be required to consume a cocoa drink each morning for 6 days. They will have measures taken including fatigue measures using visual rating scales, walking tests and several questionnaires will be administered during this time.

Aims:

The hypothesis is that the consumption of a flavonoid-rich pure cocoa beverage will reduce fatigue in pwPD. The aim of this study is to determine the feasibility of a trial to evaluate this proposal.

Design:

This is a randomised double-blind placebo controlled feasibility study in which 20 (+ potentially 20 more if adherence is acceptable and recruitment is progressing as expected) pwPD will be recruited from the European Parkinson Therapy Centre (EPTC), Italy.

Intervention:

A 6 day nutrition intervention period, with a total of 2 assessments (baseline and day 6) where outcome measures will be assessed.

Population:

20 men and women with a diagnosis of PD and who are over 18 years of age. There will be 10 participants in each trial arm.

Outcome Measures:

In order to assess benefits, a range of outcomes will be obtained. Outcome measures include:

Levels of physical activity: wearable activity monitors (worn like a watch)

Dietary patterns: 2-24 hour dietary record

Fatigue levels: Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and during the intervention the numerical rating scale (NRS) 3 times daily

Fatigability: performance on 6 minute walk test (physical) and AMIPB cognitive test

Health descriptives: basic health questionnaire, Euroqol (EQ5DVAS), SF36 Health survey, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale non motor symptoms (UPDRSNMS), routinely administered to the centre by Trescore Hospital.

Duration and follow-up:

Participants will be consented by a trained researcher at the Centre and, if successfully pass the eligibility check will be enrolled into the study. Staff at the Centre will be trained on taking consent by researchers at OBU. Once a participant is enrolled, a baseline assessment (Assessment 1) will be conducted at day 1. Immediately following completion of Assessment 1, participants will be randomly allocated to either the high flavonoid intervention group or the control group, and intervention delivery will begin immediately after allocation. They will be reassessed at day 6. Those in the control group will follow the same procedure, the only difference being that they receive the low flavonoid drink. Alex Reed and the EPTC will inform participant GPs about their involvement in the study.

Conditions

Parkinson Disease; Fatigue

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: DOUBLE

Study Groups

Flavonoid rich cocoa

Dark cocoa beverage rich in flavonoids

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Cocoa

Intervention Type: DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Participants will receive either a high flavonoid cocoa or a low flavonoid placebo cocoa.

Low flavonoid cocoa

A control cocoa beverage low inn flavonoids

Group Type: PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

Cocoa

Intervention Type: DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Participants will receive either a high flavonoid cocoa or a low flavonoid placebo cocoa.

Interventions

Cocoa

Participants will receive either a high flavonoid cocoa or a low flavonoid placebo cocoa.

Intervention Type: DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• 18 years + with a clinical diagnosis of Parkinson's disease
• Sufficient mental capacity to consent
• Score of 1-2 on Hoehn and Yahr scale

Exclusion Criteria

• Change in medication before the previous week of the trial and/ or an expected change during
• Known psychiatric disorder (clinically diagnosed)
• Contraindications tolerating the cocoa drink
• Other conditions that may be associated with fatigue, e.g. Anaemia
• Condition affecting the central nervous system other than Parkinson's disease (however migraine is allowed)
• Pregnant or lactating
• Objection to contacting their GP and neurologist

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

Sponsors

European Parkinson Therapy Centre

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Oxford Brookes University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Shelly Coe

Principal investigator

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Shelly A Coe, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Oxford Brookes Univeristy

Alex Reed

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

European Parkinson Therapy Centre

Locations

European Parkinson Therapy Centre

Boario, Terme, Italy

Countries

Italy

References

Coe S, Andreoli D, George M, Collett J, Reed A, Cossington J, Izadi H, Dixon A, Mansoubi M, Dawes H. A feasibility study to determine whether the daily consumption of flavonoid-rich pure cocoa has the potential to reduce fatigue and fatigability in people with Parkinson's (pwP). Clin Nutr ESPEN. 2022 Apr;48:68-73. doi: 10.1016/j.clnesp.2022.01.023. Epub 2022 Jan 31.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 35331536 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

OxfordBU

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id