Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Adolescents and Adults With Neurofibromatosis Type 1 and Chronic Pain: A Pilot Study
12 Years
N/A
Both
Neurofibromatosis
Trial Information
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Adolescents and Adults With Neurofibromatosis Type 1 and Chronic Pain: A Pilot Study
Background:
- Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a genetic disorder that affects approximately 1 in
3,500 individuals.
- A number of common clinical manifestations, including plexiform neurofibromas,
scoliosis, and chronic headaches, can cause frequent and significant pain and impact
quality of life.
- Often, NF1-related pain is not well-controlled with medication and many of the
medications cause significant side effects.
- To our knowledge, no studies have examined the effectiveness of behavioral
interventions for chronic pain in individuals with NF1.
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a newer generation of cognitive-behavioral
therapy, focuses on encouraging individuals to engage in more adaptive ways of coping
with pain or distress.
- In helping individuals with pain, the goal of ACT is not to eliminate the person's
pain, but to optimize the person's quality of life despite their pain.
Objectives:
- To evaluate whether the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) group demonstrates
improvement on the Modified Brief Pain Inventory scale from baseline to 3 months in
adolescents and young adults with NF1 and chronic pain.
- To examine changes in patient's functional ability, quality of life, pain-related
coping, pain-related anxiety, pain severity, and depression from baseline to 3 months
- To examine the effects of ACT on parents' psychological well-being, overall stress, and
ability to cope with their child's pain
- To explore the relationship between changes in patients' pain interference, functional
ability, pain-related coping, pain-related anxiety, pain severity, depression and
treatment adherence with demographic variables, parent stress, and parent coping
- To collect preliminary data on the value of ACT to guide the potential development of a
future phase II trial
Eligibility:
Patients ages 12 to 21 with a confirmed diagnosis of NF1.-Parents of participating
patients.-The patient must indicate a score of 3 or higher on a pain item (1 - 5 scale) from
a quality of life measure assessing the extent to which pain has interfered with the
patient's daily functioning over the past month.
Design:
- This is a behavioral study to determine the feasibility and potential benefit of an ACT
intervention on pain interference from baseline to 3 months post-intervention.
- A sample size of 12 patients is needed to provide 90% power for detecting a change of
.77 standard deviations on the total pain interference score of the M-BPI using a
1-sided .1 level test.
- ACT workshops will be scheduled multiple times over approximately five months and will
be comprised of three 2-hour sessions held over two consecutive days
- Measures assessing pain interference, pain coping, pain-related anxiety, quality of
life, functional disability, depression, and pain severity will be administered to
patients prior to the ACT intervention and 3 months later.
- At the same time points, a parent or legal guardian of each patient will complete
measures assessing their child's quality of life, functional disability, depression,
and pain severity, as well as the parent's own psychological functioning and ability to
cope with their child's pain
Inclusion Criteria
- INCLUSION CRITERIA FOR PARTICIPANT:
Subjects must be between 12 and 21 years of age at the time of the intervention. Because
the research on the effectiveness of ACT with children younger than 12 is still emerging,
children 11 and younger will be excluded from the present study.
For the clinical diagnosis of NF1 all study subjects must have two or more diagnostic
criteria for NF1 listed below (NIH Consensus Conference):
1. Six or more cafe-au-lait spots (greater than or equal to 0.5 cm in prepubertal
subjects or greater than or equal to 1.5 cm in postpuberta subjects)
2. Greater than or equal to 2 neurofibromas or 1 plexiform neurofibroma
3. Freckling in the axilla or groin
4. Optic glioma
5. Two or more Lisch nodules
6. A distinctive bony lesion (dysplasia of the sphenoid bone or dysplasia or thinning of
long bone cortex)
7. A first-degree relative with NF1
Response of 3 or higher on a pain item (1 - 5 scale) from a self-report quality of
life measure (Impact of Pediatric Illness Scale) assessing the extent to which pain
has interfered with the patient's daily functioning over the past month.
Ability of subject or Legally Authorized Representative (LAR) to understand and the
willingness to sign a written informed consent document.
Subjects may be participating in other medical interventions for the treatment of
their disease, or standard care techniques for pain management.
No anticipated major changes in their pain regimen or enrollment on a new treatment
study in the near future.
Subjects must be able to read and comprehend the English language.
EXCLUSION CRITERIA FOR PARTICIPANT:
In the opinion of the PI or an AI, the subject has significant cognitive or emotional
difficulties that would prevent them from being able to understand and/or participate
fully in the intervention or the measures.
Subjects who are participating in any other treatment studies, either medical or
behavioral, for pain management.
Subjects who are scheduled to begin a new drug protocol for the treatment of their
NF1 during the time of their enrollment on the current study.
Inability to travel to the NIH, for example, due to physical limitations, for the
scheduled workshop and evaluations.
No groups in regards to gender, race, or ethnicity are being excluded from
participation in the trial.
INCLUSION CRITERIA FOR PARENTS:
Parents must have a child with NF1 who is participating in this protocol as a
patient.
Ability to read and comprehend the English language.
Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent
document.
If a minor patient meets all eligibility criteria but his or her parent does not
(i.e., in the case where a parent does not speak English), the patient will not be
allowed to participate.
Type of Study:
Interventional
Study Design:
Allocation: Non-Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Treatment
Outcome Measure:
To evaluate whether Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) results in improvement on the Modified Brief Pain Inventory scale from baseline to 3 months in adolescents and young adults with NF1 and chronic pain.
Principal Investigator
Staci M Peron, Ph.D.
Investigator Role:
Principal Investigator
Investigator Affiliation:
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Authority:
United States: Federal Government
Study ID:
120155
NCT ID:
NCT01633008
Start Date:
June 2012
Completion Date:
January 2014
Related Keywords:
- Neurofibromatosis
- Modified Brief Pain Inventory
- Quality of Life
- Pain-Related Coping
- Pain-Related Anxiety
- Depression
- Neurofibromatoses
- Neurofibromatosis 1
- Osteitis Fibrosa Cystica
Name | Location |
|---|---|
| National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike | Bethesda, Maryland 20892 |
