Viewing Study NCT06605157


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Ignite Modification Date: 2025-12-28 @ 3:04 PM
Study NCT ID: NCT06605157
Status: RECRUITING
Last Update Posted: 2025-03-17
First Post: 2024-09-06
Is NOT Gene Therapy: True
Has Adverse Events: False

Brief Title: A Multimodal Music Therapy Intervention for Engaging Persons With Severe Dementia
Sponsor: Alaine E Hernandez, PhD
Organization:

Study Overview

Official Title: Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial of A Multimodal Music Therapy Intervention for Engaging Persons With Severe Dementia (AMUSED)
Status: RECRUITING
Status Verified Date: 2025-03
Last Known Status: None
Delayed Posting: No
If Stopped, Why?: Not Stopped
Has Expanded Access: False
If Expanded Access, NCT#: N/A
Has Expanded Access, NCT# Status: N/A
Acronym: AMUSED
Brief Summary: The goal of this pilot randomized clinical trial is to learn if a music therapy treatment, called AMUSED, can improve engagement and reduce behavioral symptoms in older adults with severe dementia who live in care facilities. The main questions it aims to answer are:

* Is it feasible to conduct a full-scale trial of AMUSED?
* Can investigators identify the best outcome measures to assess impact on behavioral symptoms of dementia?
* Does speech offer a useful indicator of treatment effectiveness? Researchers will compare a group-based music therapy treatment to a reading activity to learn if music therapy leads to greater improvements in behavioral symptoms and speech patterns.

Participants will:

* Participate in either music therapy (includes live music, singing, and rhythmic instrument playing) or a reading group with stories about life and nature and talk about memories.
* Attend small group sessions twice a week for 12 weeks, with each session lasting 40 minutes between lunch and dinner.
* Be observed and assessed for behavioral symptoms, cognition, and speech several times during treatment and at a 4-week follow-up.
Detailed Description: Meaningful activity has personal importance or usefulness, fosters a sense of fulfillment, and contributes to well-being, whether through cherished pastimes or goal-oriented endeavors. Persons with dementia (PWD) experience significant deficits in memory, communication, and functional abilities, which poses unique obstacles to engage in meaningful activities. When PWD lack sufficient activity, or if activities are poorly tailored to ability, PWD can demonstrate increased behavioral symptoms. Such symptoms impact the PWD and contribute to caregiver stress. Nonetheless, PWD across the severity continuum often respond favorably to music. Thoughtfully designed music-based interventions (MBIs) may offer PWD opportunities to engage in meaningful activity and socialize. However, empirical evidence to support the use of MBIs with this population is very limited. This pilot study advances a line of research to test and refine a randomized clinical trial design and gather preliminary data on intervention effectiveness beyond a single session.

The overall objectives of this quantitative pilot study are to (i) establish a well-refined clinical trial design, procedures, and outcome measures and (ii) obtain preliminary data of enduring effectiveness of a multimodal music therapy intervention for engaging persons with severe dementia (AMUSED) with regards to behavioral symptoms and speech. AMUSED uses live participant-preferred music and progressively layers singing, touch, and rhythmic instrument playing concurrent with participant behavioral responses. This MBI is grounded in the person-centered Clinical Practice Model for PWD, which provides guidelines for adjusting the degree of support and challenge offered to an individual. This Model is also used to enhance treatment fidelity.

This pilot study builds on a feasibility study that field tested logistics and demonstrated feasibility and acceptability of the AMUSED intervention protocol through a randomized cross-over trial design. The researchers refined recruitment, data collection, protocol training, and intervention processes. As in past similar work, the researchers demonstrated positive engagement during music therapy sessions. However, obtaining longer-term measures of treatment effects (i.e., neuropsychiatric inventory, Fitbit actigraphy, pulse oximetry, functional measures) proved impractical and unreliable in the care milieu. The researchers' recent qualitative work with long-term care staff revealed possible solutions to more feasibly measure such outcomes in a long-term care setting. The current pilot study builds on this past feasibility and qualitative work.

In this quantitative pilot study, the investigators will use a randomized clinical trial design to test methods and procedures that will be used in a future larger clinical trial. This will help enhance the rigor and reproducibility of this research. The aims of this pilot study are to: 1) determine whether the clinical trial protocol is feasible for a full-scale trial, 2) select the most appropriate primary outcome measure(s) of behavioral symptoms of dementia, and 3) determine if spontaneous speech offers a useful indicator of music-based intervention effectiveness in persons with severe dementia. Participants will be older adults with severe dementia who live in a long-term care facility. To isolate the effects of the music and obtain an estimate of cluster effects, care facilities will be randomly assigned to either receive music therapy or reading. Both conditions use the same structure, strategies, and dosage, with music being the key difference.

Study Oversight

Has Oversight DMC: False
Is a FDA Regulated Drug?: False
Is a FDA Regulated Device?: False
Is an Unapproved Device?: None
Is a PPSD?: None
Is a US Export?: False
Is an FDA AA801 Violation?:

Secondary ID Infos

Secondary ID Type Domain Link View
P30AG072946 NIH None https://reporter.nih.gov/quic… View