Clinical trial NCT04203082: Cognitive Behavioral Intervention to Reduce Procedural Anxiety Among Woman With High Risk Pregnancies With Scheduled Cesarean Deliveries
Official title: Feasibility and Limited Efficacy Trial of a Cognitive Behavioral Intervention to Reduce Procedural Anxiety Among Woman With High Risk Pregnancies With Scheduled Cesarean Deliveries
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Procedural Anxiety
High Risk Pregnancy
Fetal Complications
Keywords: cesarean
Lead sponsor: University of Colorado, Denver
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2019-12-18
Enrollment: 50
Sex: FEMALE
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 60
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: The goals of this study are to determine the feasibility and efficacy of a brief, single-session cognitive-behavioral intervention for reducing preoperative and postoperative anxiety and for determining satisfaction with the delivery process in pregnant women scheduled for Cesarean delivery due to complications with their pregnancy. This will be done through a combination of psychoeducation and exposure therapy, where the participants will be walked through the steps of a Cesarean delivery in an operating room that mimics where the patient would actually be delivering. Follow-up will occur during the immediate and extended postpartum periods to determine satisfaction and levels of anxiety.

Detailed description: Women with high-risk pregnancies due to fetal complications have a higher risk of stress than those with uncomplicated pregnancies. In Colorado, self-harm, which is related to mental health challenges, anxiety, and stress is the most common form of maternal mortality. Both the presence of maternal or fetal complications and the anticipation of a surgical procedure increase likelihood of anxiety, specifically perioperative anxiety, in patients. The presence of perioperative anxiety in pregnant woman is associated with higher reports of postoperative pain and lower maternal satisfaction with the delivery. Additionally, preoperative anxiety in surgical patients is associated with other physiological symptoms and complications, including increase heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature, sweating, nausea, and heightened sensory awareness (and need for pain medications), emotional recall of the birth as psychological traumatic, and increased risk for postpartum mood and anxiety disorders. State (perioperative) anxiety is elevated prior to procedure and are similar to other norms for general medical/surgical patients.

Educational and psychological interventions are recommended for adults with anxiety related to medical procedures. For mild, acute procedural anxiety, this includes education about the procedure, acknowledgement and normalization of any feelings of anxiety in the patient, and allowing opportunities to promote a sense of control during the procedure. For those with more intense anxiety, brief cognitive behavioral therapy is identified as effective treatment. Brief cognitive-behavioral therapy interventions typically involve some or all of the following components: psychoeducation (about the association between thoughts, behaviors, and emotions and how these relate specifically to the procedure), cognitive restructuring (developing self-statements that will reduce anxiety-inducing reactions during the procedure), in vivo exposure to the setting, and/or relaxation training. Among adult patients undergoing surgical procedures, brief cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) (typically 4 1-hour sessions) has been associated with reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression immediately after intervention and weeks after, as well as shorter hospital stays. Additionally, even briefer interventions involving exposure therapy is efficacious for other medical-related phobias, such as dental phobia. Exposure treatment can be administered in a single, 60-minute session, but may need more sessions for intense anxiety. Finally, in those with severe anxiety who are not responsive to previous interventions, anxiolytic premedicant drugs are sometimes indicated, though can be associated with acute anterograde amnesia and drowsiness during the procedure, as well as need for increased neonatal resuscitation, as they easily cross the placenta. For this reason, the majority of women with anxiety typically decline use of these medications when offered.

Given the high prevalence of preoperative anxiety among women undergoing a cesarean delivery with maternal or fetal complications, identification of low-cost interventions to decrease anxiety and increase satisfaction with the delivery process is indicated. To date, there are no randomized control trials investigating brief cognitive behavioral interventions for elective cesarean sections. This study seeks to establish the feasibility and limited efficacy of a brief, single session intervention that combines psychoeducation and exposure treatment to reduce preoperative anxiety and satisfaction of the delivery process among women undergoing elective cesarean section

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Fetal Anomaly/Complication
* Planned Cesarean Delivery

Exclusion Criteria:

* Delivery planned at outside hospital

Primary outcomes:
measure: Acceptability: questionnaire
timeFrame: < 14 days post-delivery
measure: Demand
timeFrame: < 14 days post-delivery
measure: Practicality
timeFrame: 1-2 weeks pre-delivery
measure: Anxiety
timeFrame: 3-4 weeks pre-delivery
measure: Anxiety
timeFrame: At Delivery
measure: Anxiety
timeFrame: 6-8 weeks post-delivery
measure: Preoperative Anxiety
timeFrame: At Delivery
measure: Satisfaction with Delivery: questionnaire
timeFrame: <14 days post-delivery
measure: Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms
timeFrame: 6-8 weeks post-delivery
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Aurora
country: United States
facility: Children's Hospital Colorado
state: Colorado
city: Kansas City
country: United States
facility: Children's Mercy
state: Missouri
city: Houston
country: United States
facility: Baylor College of Medicine
state: Texas
city: Houston
country: United States
facility: The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
state: Texas
Study officials:
affiliation: Children's Hospital Colorado
name: Allison Dempsey, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Choy, Y. Treatment of acute procedural anxiety in adults. UpToDate. Waltham, MA: UpToDate Inc. Available form: http://www. uptodate. com [Last accessed on 2017 Oct 01].
citation: Hepp P, Hagenbeck C, Burghardt B, Jaeger B, Wolf OT, Fehm T, Schaal NK; MAGIC Group. Measuring the course of anxiety in women giving birth by caesarean section: a prospective study. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2016 May 18;16:113. doi: 10.1186/s12884-016-0906-z.
citation: Hobson JA, Slade P, Wrench IJ, Power L. Preoperative anxiety and postoperative satisfaction in women undergoing elective caesarean section. Int J Obstet Anesth. 2006 Jan;15(1):18-23. doi: 10.1016/j.ijoa.2005.05.008. Epub 2005 Oct 26.
citation: Maheshwari D, Ismail S. Preoperative anxiety in patients selecting either general or regional anesthesia for elective cesarean section. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol. 2015 Apr-Jun;31(2):196-200. doi: 10.4103/0970-9185.155148.
citation: Metz TD, Rovner P, Hoffman MC, Allshouse AA, Beckwith KM, Binswanger IA. Maternal Deaths From Suicide and Overdose in Colorado, 2004-2012. Obstet Gynecol. 2016 Dec;128(6):1233-1240. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000001695.
citation: Wilson CJ, Mitchelson AJ, Tzeng TH, El-Othmani MM, Saleh J, Vasdev S, LaMontagne HJ, Saleh KJ. Caring for the surgically anxious patient: a review of the interventions and a guide to optimizing surgical outcomes. Am J Surg. 2016 Jul;212(1):151-9. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2015.03.023. Epub 2015 Jun 2.
citation: Wyatt SS, Jones DA, Peach MJ, Gurrin L. Anxiety in patients having caesarean section under regional anaesthesia: a questionnaire and pilot study. Int J Obstet Anesth. 2001 Oct;10(4):278-83. doi: 10.1054/ijoa.2001.0866.