Expressive Writing in Male Infertility
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ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00385346 |
Recruitment Status
:
Completed
First Posted
: October 9, 2006
Last Update Posted
: June 30, 2010
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Condition or disease | Intervention/treatment | Phase |
---|---|---|
Infertility, Male | Behavioral: Expressive writing | Not Applicable |
Expressive writing is a therapeutic intervention designed by the psychologist James W. Pennebaker. Individuals write on three days for about 20 minutes about particularly stressful experiences in their life. Several studies showed that expressive writing can have beneficial effects on the frequency of health care utilization and well-being. Particularly in patients with rheumatism, kidney cancer and posttraumatic stress disorder expressive writing showed an positive effect on subjective well-being. Furthermore, in several studies expressive writing showed a positive effect on immune parameters.
As many studies suggest an important negative effect of stress on well-being and sperm parameters in male infertility, we want to investigate the effect of expressive writing in male infertility.The expressive writing condition is compared to a non emotional writing condition, in which individuals write about mainly non emotional topics such as time management. In this randomized-controlled trial subjects were allocated sequentially by block wise randomization (block size of 4). For randomization a computer generated random list was used. The allocation was concealed in a series of numbered sealed envelopes. The envelope was opened immediately before the first writing session.
Study Type : | Interventional (Clinical Trial) |
Actual Enrollment : | 56 participants |
Allocation: | Randomized |
Intervention Model: | Parallel Assignment |
Masking: | Single (Participant) |
Primary Purpose: | Treatment |
Official Title: | Expressive Writing as a Therapeutic Intervention in Male Infertility |
Study Start Date : | November 2006 |
Actual Primary Completion Date : | June 2008 |
Actual Study Completion Date : | February 2009 |

Arm | Intervention/treatment |
---|---|
Experimental: A 1
Expressive writing
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Behavioral: Expressive writing
Patients in the intervention group write on three day for 20 minutes about highly emotional topics In the control group patients write on three days for 20 minutes about topics with relatively low emotional involvement such as diet, time management and sport.
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- Scores on rating scale for perceived stress in infertility [ Time Frame: 3 months ]
- Scores on rating scale for personality dimensions [ Time Frame: 3 months ]
- Sperm parameters [ Time Frame: 3-12 months ]
- Score on rating scale for coping [ Time Frame: 3 months ]

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Ages Eligible for Study: | 18 Years to 55 Years (Adult) |
Sexes Eligible for Study: | Male |
Accepts Healthy Volunteers: | No |
Inclusion Criteria:
- Male infertile patients with a pathological spermiogram according to WHO criteria
Exclusion Criteria:
- Drugs affecting sperm quality
- Patients with chromosomal anomalies affecting sperm quality (e.g. Klinefelter- Syndrome)
- Severe Psychiatric disorder defined as psychotic disorder (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder) or substance-related disorder
- Patients currently in psychotherapeutic or psychiatric therapy

To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT00385346
Germany | |
University of Bonn, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine | |
Bonn, Germany, 53105 |
Study Chair: | Reinhard Liedtke, MD | University of Bonn, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine |
Publications:
Responsible Party: | Prof. Dr. R. Liedtke, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Bonn |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT00385346 History of Changes |
Other Study ID Numbers: |
Lfd.Nr.068/06 |
First Posted: | October 9, 2006 Key Record Dates |
Last Update Posted: | June 30, 2010 |
Last Verified: | September 2009 |
Keywords provided by University Hospital, Bonn:
Expressive writing Male infertility |
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Infertility Infertility, Male Genital Diseases, Male Genital Diseases, Female |