Meditation to Reduce Stress and Improve Quality of Life

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this study is to test a simple meditation program that is easy to learn; inexpensive; easy to practice; non-religion based; and has wide applicability to multiple medical conditions. This program has been developed by the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at the Mayo Clinic.

Detailed Description
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Stress is a ubiquitous problem and a mediator of symptoms for a variety of medical conditions. Most medical diagnoses, procedures, and physician visits are associated with considerable stress. Excessive stress is associated with adverse medical outcomes, unhealthy coping mechanisms, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and overall a poor quality of life. No specific pharmacologic treatment is available for treating stress. Further, it is often difficult or impossible to change the reality of circumstances causing stress in an individual. Thus increasing individual coping mechanisms and ability of a person to handle stress, rather than changing the stressors itself, might be a more feasible approach towards reducing stress. Meditation is a widely used and increasingly popular intervention that positively affects the individual at cognitive, physical, emotional, behavioral, and spiritual levels. A practice of meditation has been shown to reduce symptoms of stress and improve overall quality of life. Several meditation programs exist, however most are limited by considerable expense, need for elaborate training, lack of widespread availability, or incorporation of ideas and practices unique to a particular culture.

Official Title
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Meditation to Reduce Stress and Improve Quality of Life: A Feasibility Study

Conditions
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Stress

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Meditation DVD


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: At least 18 years of age Good general health Access to a DVD player Provided with, understand, and have signed the informed consent Exclusion Criteria: Are currently using (at the time of enrollment) antipsychotics or recently (< 3 months) started on antidepressants. Patients on stable dose of antidepressant (for ≥ 3 months) will be allowed. Have a lifetime history of schizophrenia

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Meditation DVD<br>All participants will receive a Meditation DVD to practice at home daily for a total of 4 weeks. | Behavioral: Meditation DVD<br>* Participants will undergo a one-hour group instruction session in meditation held by Dr. Amit Sood. Participants will then receive a DVD to practice the intervention at home daily for a total of 4 weeks. The DVD will have 3 different programs of 5, 15, and 30 minutes each loaded on it with a menu option to choose one of the programs.<br>* Other names: Meditation;|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| To assess the feasibility of incorporating a 4-week innovative meditation program into the daily activities of healthy Mayo Clinic employees for improving stress. |  | 4 Weeks | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| To assess the effect of a 4-week program of meditation on perceived stress and overall quality of life compared to baseline. |  | 4 Weeks | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Meditation, Relaxation Therapy, Quality of Life