Ulcerative Colitis Relapse Prevention Trial, Hypnosis (UCRPT)
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ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00798642 |
Recruitment Status
:
Completed
First Posted
: November 26, 2008
Last Update Posted
: April 2, 2014
|
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Condition or disease | Intervention/treatment | Phase |
---|---|---|
Ulcerative Colitis Inflammatory Bowel Disease | Behavioral: Hypnotherapy Behavioral: Standard care Behavioral: Mind Body Therapy | Not Applicable |
The purpose of the study is to determine whether hypnotherapy can serve as an effective therapy for patients with Ulcerative Colitis (UC), a chronic, relapsing and remitting inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
The goal of this study is to determine if mind-body therapy is an effective complementary therapy for IBD, meaning a therapy to be used in conjunction with your standard treatment provided by your gastroenterologist. Standard treatment for UC often includes a combination approach and may include medications such as mesalamine, corticosteroids or immunomodulators. Mind-body therapy or hypnosis has been used to reduce stress and subsequent disease activity in patients with gastrointestinal diseases including IBD and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It has also been shown to improve immune function and reduce inflammation in other health conditions such as cancer and arthritis.
In this study, patients with inactive UC will be randomized to one of three groups. Two groups will undergo one of two mind-body therapies, which may include relaxation techniques or other techniques aimed at identifying the impact of UC on your psyche along with standard care for their UC. The other group will undergo 8 weeks of standard care without mind-body therapy. Clinical assessment measures will be repeated at 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 24 weeks and 52 weeks.
Study Type : | Interventional (Clinical Trial) |
Actual Enrollment : | 55 participants |
Allocation: | Randomized |
Intervention Model: | Parallel Assignment |
Masking: | None (Open Label) |
Primary Purpose: | Prevention |
Official Title: | National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine, The Role of Gut-Directed Hypnotherapy in Relapse Prevention for Ulcerative Colitis |
Study Start Date : | July 2007 |
Actual Primary Completion Date : | November 2011 |
Actual Study Completion Date : | June 2012 |

Arm | Intervention/treatment |
---|---|
Active Comparator: Hypnotherapy |
Behavioral: Hypnotherapy
8 weeks of gut-directed hypnotherapy
Other Name: HYP
|
Placebo Comparator: Standard care |
Behavioral: Standard care
8 weeks of standard of care
Other Name: SC
|
Placebo Comparator: Mind Body Therapy |
Behavioral: Mind Body Therapy
8 weeks of mind-body therapy
Other Name: MB
|
- feasibility [ Time Frame: 52 weeks ]
- Estimated effect sizes [ Time Frame: 52 weeks ]

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
Ages Eligible for Study: | 18 Years to 70 Years (Adult, Senior) |
Sexes Eligible for Study: | All |
Accepts Healthy Volunteers: | No |
Inclusion Criteria:
- male and female patients between the ages of 18 and 70 of any ethnicity
- endoscopy-confirmed (within the past 2 years) mild or moderately severe Ulcerative Colitis (at time of previous flare)
- inactive disease at the time of recruitment:
- Mayo score <2 with no subscale >1
- no rectal bleeding
- Physician Global Assessment Score (PGA) = 0
- 2 weeks of baseline daily symptom diaries that support criteria for inactive disease
- documented disease flare within the past 1.5 years to enhance the opportunity to observe differences between groups in a 1-year trial .
- no medication or a stable dose of maintenance medication (i.e. mesalamine or sulfasalazine) for at least one month prior to enrollment.
- If taking maintenance medication: an increase in dose will be considered a relapse
- If taking no medication: initiation of any medication will be considered a relapse
Exclusion Criteria:
- active disease
- daily rectal bleeding for past 7 days
- Mayo Score > 2, any subscale > 1
- PGA score >0
- history of severe or fulminant UC
- most recent flare included > 6 bloody stools a day
- history of of toxicity including fever, tachycardia, anemia or an elevated Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) ∙ history of continuous bleeding, blood transfusion requirement, abdominal tenderness and distension, and colonic dilation on abdominal plain films
- other gastrointestinal conditions
- Crohn's Disease (CD)
- short-bowel syndrome
- celiac sprue
- irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- renal or hepatic disease
- positive stool exam (bacteria, ova, parasites)
- C-difficile
- history of colon resection
- steroid-dependent, patients taking oral steroids within the past 30 days, topical steroids within the past week, quit smoking in the past 30 days given the known effects of smoking cessation on UC disease flare 23.
- contraindications for hypnotherapy
- unresolved history of physical or sexual abuse
- a current or past dissociative disorder (i.e. Borderline PD, PTSD)
- history of psychosis (including mania)
- history of psychiatric hospitalization, including for self-harm or SI/HI
- current substance abuse
- severe psychiatric disorder
- patients who are resistant to hypnosis as a result of religious or moral beliefs or any other reason

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): NCT00798642
United States, Illinois | |
Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine | |
Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611 |
Principal Investigator: | Laurie Keefer, PhD | Northwestern University |
Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
Responsible Party: | Laurie Keefer, Associate Professor, Northwestern University |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT00798642 History of Changes |
Other Study ID Numbers: |
R21AT003204 ( U.S. NIH Grant/Contract ) |
First Posted: | November 26, 2008 Key Record Dates |
Last Update Posted: | April 2, 2014 |
Last Verified: | April 2014 |
Keywords provided by Laurie Keefer, Northwestern University:
Hypnotherapy Ulcerative Colitis Inflammatory Bowel Disease Gastrointestinal Diseases |
Digestive System Diseases Intestinal Diseases Colonic Diseases |
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Colitis Ulcer Colitis, Ulcerative Intestinal Diseases Inflammatory Bowel Diseases |
Gastroenteritis Gastrointestinal Diseases Digestive System Diseases Colonic Diseases Pathologic Processes |