Effectiveness of Musical Training in Hong Kong Chinese Childhood Brain Tumor Survivors

NCT ID: NCT03399864

Last Updated: 2019-06-12

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 60 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2017-02-20
• Study Completion Date: 2018-06-30

Brief Summary

This study aims to work out the effectiveness (effect size) of the musical training intervention in reducing depressive symptoms, improving self-esteem and quality of life among childhood brain tumour survivors and to examine the feasibility, appropriateness, and acceptability of implementing musical training intervention in clinical practice. Subjects in the experimental group will receive weekly 45-minute lessons on musical training for one year (52 weeks), while those in the control group will receive usual care.

Detailed Description

Musical training has been increasingly implemented to promote one's psychological well-being and cognitive functioning. For instance, to reduce depression, anxiety in psychiatric patients, to improve self-esteem and mood recognition in hospitalized adolescent patients diagnosed with "adjustment reaction to adolescence", to improve social skills of children with autism, to enhance reading skills and academic achievement in young poor readers, and to facilitate children's cognitive development. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of musical training in promoting psychological well-being, particularly to reduce their depressive symptoms and enhance self-esteem, and enhancing quality of life among the childhood brain tumour survivors is remain underexplored. It is of paramount importance to examine the effectiveness of musical training so as to ameliorate adverse disease- and treatment-related late effects, such as depression and low self-esteem, hence enhancing childhood brain tumour survivors' quality of life.

Conditions

Brain Neoplasms; Child

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Experimental group

Apart from receiving scheduled medical follow-up, the subjects in the experimental group will receive a weekly 45-minute lesson on musical training for 52 weeks. The musical training will be conducted by the Music Children Foundation and be implemented in a ratio of one subject to one qualified orchestral performer at the subjects' homes. A musical instrument will be assigned to each subject based on their interests and the results of the prior assessment of subjects' expiratory function and fine motor skills. The musical training will start at the lowest level, such as hitting simple notes and end at the highest level, such as playing an entire song.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

musical training

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The subjects in the experimental group will receive weekly 45-minute lessons on musical training for 52 weeks.

Control group

The subjects will receive usual care, such as medical follow-up according to the schedule of the oncology units.

Group Type: OTHER

usual care

Intervention Type: OTHER

The subjects in the control group will receive usual care, such as medical follow-up according to the schedule of the oncology units.

Interventions

musical training

The subjects in the experimental group will receive weekly 45-minute lessons on musical training for 52 weeks.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

usual care

The subjects in the control group will receive usual care, such as medical follow-up according to the schedule of the oncology units.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Hong Kong Chinese children surviving from brain tumours with the Modified Mini-Mental Scale (MMSE) score of 18 or above
• be aged between 7 and 16 years
• able to speak Cantonese and read Chinese
• have completed treatment for at least two months
• have residual function of the upper extremities (i.e. be able to move the extremities, such as the fingers and arms, without assistance)

Exclusion Criteria

• children who have undertaken any musical training following their cancer diagnosis
• survivors with evidence of recurrence or second malignancies
• survivors receiving palliative care

• Minimum Eligible Age: 7 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 16 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

The University of Hong Kong

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Ho Cheung William Li

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

The University of Hong Kong

Locations

The University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong, , China

Countries

China

Other Identifiers

UW16-023_2

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id