SMART Program in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Condition: Irritable Bowel Syndrome
MeSH terms: Irritable Bowel Syndrome; Syndrome
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This is a pilot study to determine the efficacy of the Stress Management and Resilience
      Training (SMART) program in improving gastrointestinal and psychological symptoms,
      health-related quality of life, and satisfaction of care in patients with irritable bowel
      syndrome (IBS). Half of the participants will be enrolled in the SMART program initially. The
      other half will be placed in a self-management stress reduction program where they will read
      a popular stress reduction book over 12 weeks. Then they will have access to participate in
      the online SMART program.
    

Detailed description: 
      Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by
      abdominal pain related to defecation and associated with changes in stool frequency and/or
      form. IBS is a stress sensitive disorder and its severity has been shown to be moderated by
      both acute and chronic stress. Furthermore, resilience, which is defined as the ability to
      positively adapt and thrive in the presence of stressors and adversity, has been shown to be
      lower in those with IBS and associated with more severe symptoms. Therapies aimed at stress
      reduction in IBS have been found to be effective in the management of IBS. To our knowledge,
      there are no reports in the literature of a therapy to target resilience in the IBS patient
      population.

      The Stress Management and Resilience Training (SMART) program was developed by Dr. A. Sood at
      the Mayo clinic to reduce stress, decrease symptoms related to stress and enhance resiliency.
      This is accomplished by targeting human attention and interpretation of events, people and
      the world. Furthermore, methods to strengthen the skills of gratitude, compassion,
      acceptance, forgiveness and understanding of a higher meaning are taught. Previous studies
      have demonstrated that this program can improve stress, anxiety, resilience and quality of
      life of participants.
    

Intervention name(s): Stress Management and Resilience Training Program; Self-Management Stress Reduction Program
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): This program targets attention and interpretation of events, people and the world through the skills of gratitude, compassion, acceptance, forgiveness and understanding of a higher meaning. The program involves two phases. The 4 week "training phase" begins with a group session that discusses the practices that can be used to enhance awareness and engagement through the principles listed above. Participants will receive twice weekly emails with videos that described a different practice for participants to use in their daily lives. The second phase is the "sustain phase" that is 8 weeks in duration. Participants are expected to continue using the daily practices learned during the training phase. Weekly emails will be sent with ways to incorporate these practices into their daily lives.; Program participants will be given a popular stress reduction book to read over a 12 week period. Upon completion of this, they will be enrolled in the online SMART program for 12 weeks.
Other intervention name(s): SMART Program
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS); Stress; Resilience; Stress Management and Resilience Training Program (SMART)