Online Interactive Courses on Loneliness and Quality of Life of Older Adults

NCT05007600 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: CRREC-109-088
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 89
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Background: The early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic can be marked as a critical period in human history as it increased loneliness in people's lives. This is particularly true for the older adults who are single, living alone, and suffering from chronic diseases. However, there is insufficient existing research on associated interventions and their effectiveness. Objectives: To investigate the effectiveness of an 8-week online interactive course on the loneliness, depression, social support, and quality of life (QOL) of older adults in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This pilot study, also a single-blind randomized controlled trial, collected data from a community in central Taiwan. Participants were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group. Subsequently, participants in the experimental group received an 8-week intensive (Monday to Friday) online interactive course, whereas those in the control group consumed 8 weeks of unidirectional online video and audio programs (such as from YouTube). Assessments were conducted both before and after the intervention, with the primary outcome being the UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLA), and secondary outcomes being the Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form, the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behavior (ISSB) Scale, and the WHO Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) Scale.

Conditions

Older Adults

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLA)

  The third version of UCLA compiled by Russel (1996) was used to measure "loneliness." It was translated into Chinese by Chang and Yang (1999) and included 20 questions. Each question was scored on the 4-point Likert Scale, with 1: "I never feel this way," 2: "I rarely feel this way," 3: "I sometimes feel this way," and 4: "I often feel this way." The total score ranged between 20 and 80, and the higher the score, the higher the participant's degree of loneliness. In this study, the Cronbach's alpha of the pre- and post-intervention UCLA was 0.76 and 0.78, respectively.

  10-20 minutes

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form (GDS-SF)

  10-20 minutes

• Inventory of Socially Supportive Behavior (ISSB) Scale

  10-20 minutes

• WHO Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) Scale

  10-20 minutes

Study Arms (2)

trial group

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in the experimental group received an 8-week intensive (Monday to Friday) online interactive course.

Other: Online Interactive Courses

Control group

NO INTERVENTION

Participants in the control group consumed 8 weeks of unidirectional online video and audio programs (such as from YouTube).

Interventions

Online Interactive Courses OTHER

In the experimental group, after consensus was reached in the expert meeting (consisting of a doctor specializing in occupational therapy, a doctor specializing in nursing, and a doctor specializing in public health), a 5-days-per-week (Monday to Friday) 8-week intensive online interactive course was designed. The course was made accessible to the participants through a social network app (Line) from 12:00 to 20:30.

trial group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 65 Years - 88 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• (1) senior residents aged over 60 years, those who were not diagnosed with any cognitive impairment;
• (2) capable of communicating in Mandarin or Taiwanese; and
• (3) capable of using smartphones.

You may not qualify if:

• (1) participants who could not fully complete the 8-week intervention (or participate in the course for at least three days per week); and
• (2) those who were incapable of understanding the content of the questionnaire.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Yang Shang-Yu: lead

Study Sites (1)

Asia Univeraity

Taichung, WuFeng, 41354, Taiwan

Location

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 5, 2021
• First Posted: August 16, 2021
• Study Start: February 1, 2021
• Primary Completion: July 1, 2021
• Study Completion: July 30, 2021
• Last Updated: August 16, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-08

Locations

TW (1)