Remote Interactive Intervention for Loneliness

NCT05459103 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: Remote interactive
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 100
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world adopted the practice of physical distancing, which increased the loneliness experienced by seniors and indirectly affected their quality of life and social support. Remote interaction through online social apps may be the safest and easiest way to address these problems. However, the empirical research on this issue is very limited. Objective: This study investigated the impact of a 12-week remote interaction intervention on loneliness, quality of life, and social support for seniors living in a community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study adopted a randomized controlled trial design and was conducted in communities in central Taiwan. Participants in the intervention group received a 12-week bidirectional remote interaction intervention, while participants in the control group received a 12-week unidirectional remote interaction intervention. The study's primary assessment tools were the UCLA Loneliness Scale and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF Scale (WHOQOL-BREF). The secondary assessment tool was the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behavior.

Conditions

Older Adults

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• 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.

  10-20 minutes

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

  The questionnaire was composed of questions on QOL formulated by the World Health Organization (WHO) based on the commonality of various cultures. The Taiwanese version of WHOQOL-BREF included 28 questions, each scored on a 5-point Likert Scale. It was composed of four domains, namely, Physical health (7 questions), Psychological health (6 questions), Social relationships (4 questions), and Environment (9 questions). The score of an individual question ranged between 1 and 5, and after conversion, the total score of each domain ranged between 4 and 20. The higher the score, the higher the individual's QOL.

  10-20 minutes

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Inventory of Socially Supportive Behavior (ISSB) Scale

  10-20 minutes

Study Arms (2)

Intervention group

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in the intervention group received a 12-week bidirectional remote interaction intervention.

Other: Bidirectional remote interaction intervention

Control group

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in the control group received a 12-week unidirectional remote interaction intervention.

Other: Unidirectional remote interaction intervention

Interventions

Bidirectional remote interaction intervention OTHER

Intervention group participants engaged in a 12-week bidirectional remote interaction. All interactions were conducted through the same group on Line. A one-hour interactive online group intervention was held every Monday to Friday from 14:30 to 15:30, for a total of 60 hours. The online interactive interventions were conducted in a structured course format, with a facilitator conducting live classes and alternating between static and dynamic classes.

Intervention group

Unidirectional remote interaction intervention OTHER

Control group participants engaged in a 12-week unidirectional remote interaction. All interactions were conducted through the same group on Line. Research assistants posted a YouTube video on the Line group at 14:30 every day, Monday through Friday, covering art, music, senior sports, long-term care resources, travel, and food preparation.

Control group

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may not qualify if:

• The study excluded (1) those who were unable to understand how to use Line or YouTube; (2) participants in the experimental group who did not fully participate in the 12-week intervention (at least three days of interaction per week); (3) those who were unable to understand the content of the questionnaire or cooperate with those assigned to help them fill it in; and (4) those who had a major illness or surgery such as a fracture within the last three months.

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: July 12, 2022
• First Posted: July 14, 2022
• Study Start: September 1, 2021
• Primary Completion: January 30, 2022
• Study Completion: June 30, 2022
• Last Updated: July 14, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-07

Locations

TW (1)