Clinical trial NCT01761383: Role of Nintendo Wii in Improving Negative Symptoms and Quality of Life in Chronic Schizophrenia
Official title: Nintendo Wii and Schizophrenia. A Pilot Study.
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Chronic Schizophrenia
Keywords: Chronic Schizophrenia
Nintendo Wii
Quality of Life
Lead sponsor: Queen's University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Walmart
First posted: 2013-01-04
Enrollment: 5
Sex: MALE
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to determine whether the use of Nintendo Wii will help improve negative symptoms of Schizophrenia and quality of life of patients with chronic Schizophrenia.

Detailed description: The proposed study seeks to determine whether any benefit in daily functioning and quality of life can be gained from using the Nintendo Wii video game console in chronic mental illness, namely schizophrenia. There is a small research base on the use of the Wii console in elderly nursing home residents as a means of increasing mobility, with attendant benefits in areas such as falls, quality of life, and relief of subsyndromal depression. For individuals with schizophrenia, adjunct exercise therapy has been associated with gains in both psychiatric and physical symptoms. However, people with schizophrenia face physical and functional barriers in initiating and continuing organized activity programs. Thus, the Nintendo Wii Fit Plus interactive fitness video game is being proposed as a novel way of introducing and engaging people with schizophrenia in various forms of physical activity.

As the first study to assess the use of the Nintendo Wii in chronic mental illness, the purpose of this pilot study is to assess the feasibility and the capacity of the Nintendo Wii in improving the health and functioning of people with severe, chronic schizophrenia. Although it is hypothesized that Nintendo Wii use will lead to gains in these domains, the information gained from this study will be used to determine specific areas of benefit and to assess whether any observed differences in outcome measures are sufficient to warrant a full-scale study. Furthermore, this initial study aims to pilot the interview schedule, clarify wording on the questionnaires, ensure that all important areas have been covered by the questionnaires, and determine whether participants are capable of meeting the demands of the study.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Patients diagnosed with Schizophrenia defined by the DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition-Text Revision)
* Males or females aged 18 years of older
* Participate in the Community High Intensity Treatment Team (CHITT) out-patient program
* Certified by their physician to participate in physical activity

Exclusion Criteria:

* History of violence or other risks that may endanger study research assistants during home visits

Primary outcomes:
measure: Quality of life.
timeFrame: 6 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Weight.
timeFrame: 6 months
measure: Subjective overall functioning.
timeFrame: 6 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Kingston
country: Canada
facility: Community High Intensity Treatment Team (CHITT) at Providence Care Mental Health Services
state: Ontario
Study officials:
affiliation: Department of Psychiatry at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
name: Martin Feakins, M.D.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: