27 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
This study aims to observe if consistency in a young adult's schedule is related to health factors and outcomes, such as diet quality, amount of physical activity and sleep, and weight.
This will be a study looking at trying to change community-dwelling older adults' behavior in regard to good sleep hygiene practices. Investigators will assess the efficacy through subjective outcome measures and objective physiological markers of good sleep through data collected with wearable technology devices.
The purpose of this research is to test a commercially viable Fire Fighter Altering System (FFAS) comprised of proprietary wearables and optional bed shakers called BunkAlerts; collectively "personal alerting devices" as an alternative approach to the traditional fire alarm system used in fire stations. Participants (fire fighters) will be asked to take part in the study to investigate the impact of the new FFAS on cardiovascular response and sleep. This study includes three phases: 1) baseline, 2) implementation of EaseAlert FFAS with traditional alarm, and 3) implementation of EaseAlert FFAS without traditional alarm. Participants will be asked to wear an Actigraph wGT3x-BT and Polar H10 device to record sleep and heart rate data for 12 days at work in addition to EaseAlert FFAS device for 8 out of the 12 days at work. They will also be asked to complete a questionnaire and complete daily journal entries.
Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (NCL) also known at Batten's disease is the most common neurodegenerative disorder in children. Families often report the patient has a sleep disturbance. This is a questionnaire to be completed by the family to better understand the sleep pattern and sleep difficulties experienced by individuals who have been diagnosed with NCL.
In a 6 week pilot study, 20 individuals with habitual sleep restriction will all be asked to extend their nightly sleep by 1 hour, and will then be randomized 1:1 to nightly controlled-release oral melatonin (2mg) or placebo. The investigators will assess whether sleep extension and nightly melatonin supplementation in the community is a feasible intervention with a beneficial effect on the following chronic kidney disease (CKD) risk factors: systemic and renal specific renin-aldosterone-angiotensin system (RAAS) activation (systemic plasma renin activity, plasma angiotensin II levels, 24-hour urine aldosterone excretion, and renal plasma flow response to captopril); nocturnal blood pressure measured by 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitor; central blood pressure measured by pulse wave analysis; and glucose metabolism measured by Minimal Model assessment of insulin resistance and β-cell response to a mixed meal protocol.
Routine sleep duration varies greatly among individuals. The biological meaning of this variation is unknown. The term circadian rhythm refers to the biological clock that regulates the timing of falling asleep, waking up, and secretion of hormones, like melatonin. Melatonin is secreted at night. Previous studies have shown that melatonin may play a role in the regulation of sleep. The purpose of this study is to learn whether the duration of nighttime (nocturnal) melatonin secretion is longer in people with long regular sleep duration than people with short sleep duration. Researchers will compare levels of melatonin and cortisol, body temperature, sleepiness, and sleep in two extreme groups. Group one will be made up of people with short sleep duration lasting less than 6 hours. Group two will be made up of people with long sleep duration lasting more than 9 hours.
The goal of this study is to test the efficacy of a behavioral sleep extension intervention on sleep duration, cardio-metabolic disease risk factors, and health behaviors among adults with elevated blood pressure/hypertension and short sleep duration.
The overall goal of this project is to look at the effects of long-term, sustained sleep restriction (SR) in adults, and assess the effects on mood and cognitive and physical performance.
The study will test a sleep-health intervention that leverages the science on habit formation. It will evaluate if adding a text messaging intervention improves habit formation. The participants will be 18-30 years old.
Habits impact nearly every domain of one's physical and mental health. Evidence-based psychological treatments (EBPTs) are interventions targeting psychological processes that cause and/or maintain mental illness and that have been developed and evaluated scientifically. An implicit goal of EBPTs is to disrupt unwanted habits and develop desired habits. Yet, there has been insufficient attention given to habit formation principles, theory and measures in the development and delivery of EBTPs. In preparing to conduct a 5-year R01 on this topic, the investigators are conducting this experiment to better understand habit formation. The purpose is to distill, study and clarify key concepts in habit formation before embarking on the 5-year R01. This is necessary as there is surprisingly little research to guide key decisions, particularly for the process of dismantling unwanted habits. Hence, the aim of this experiment is to compare strategies discussed in the scientific literature, which have been minimally studied, to dismantle unwanted habits. The hypothesis tested is that each of the active strategies will be superior to the no intervention group. The study is exploratory as to which of the active strategies will be most effective.
Adolescent's poor sleep habits have been linked to adverse outcomes. Recent advances in activity tracking have provided researchers with cost-effective and non-invasive measurements of sleep in a free-living environment. The primary objective is to determine the mean differences in Fitbit accelerometer sleep quantity (mins) between High School student-athletes and non-athletes during a competitive academic semester over continuous monitoring for two weeks.
This study will examine the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of two digital sleep interventions in improving sleep regularity and psychiatric health during a critical period of adolescence.
Our goal in this study is to further refine StandUPTV, an application designed to reduce SST in adults in our first study (ASU IRB # STUDY00012109), for the StandUPTV Habits program. This program aims to establish a non-sedentary habit triggered by an alert from the StandUPTV application after participants engage in approximately 30 minutes of SST in the evening.
The overall goal is to determine how a sleep extension intervention (increasing time in bed) in individuals who maintain less than 6.5 hours sleep per night affects their plasma ceramides and insulin sensitivity. Participants will undergo a randomized controlled trial, with sleep extension (intervention) and healthy lifestyle (control) groups. The sleep extension is designed to increase participant's time in bed by 2 hours per night. Alternatively, the control group will receive basic health information (e.g., physical activity, goal setting, and nutrition when eating out).
The study will use a between-subjects design in a sample of individuals with BMI greater than or equal to 28 from the Los Angeles community (N=330). Participants will be randomly assigned to a weight stigma vs. control manipulation. Changes to the following health behaviors will be subsequently measured in their everyday lives: 3-day diet as captured by ecological momentary assessment (EMA) food diaries, objectively measured eating of obesogenic foods, objectively measured physical activity captured by 24-hour actigraphy, and sleep, captured objectively by overnight actigraphy and subjectively self-reported sleep measures. The investigators hypothesize that weight stigma causes decrements in health behaviors (e.g., sleep, eating, and physical activity) in everyday life.
There is strong reason to believe that sleep promotion during adolescence could yield long-term health rewards; the investigators' data show that, when they get more sleep, Morning Larks have impressively reduced intake of overall calories and foods high in glycemic load that are linked to long-term health risk. Before that can be translated into major public health interventions, however, the field needs to understand why similar changes in sleep had no effect, or even an adverse effect, on adolescent Night Owls. This experimental study will clarify why there have been such discrepant effects across Morning Larks and Night Owls, with the goal of more broadly harnessing the promise of improved sleep in the prevention of obesity and long-term morbidity.
Many teenagers do not get enough sleep. Obesity and diabetes are increasing in teenagers as well. This study plans to learn more about sleep and insulin resistance (insulin not working) in teenagers, and how these things may be related depending on sleep. This is important to know so that the investigators understand how sleep may play a role in health conditions like extra weight gain (increased food intake and less physical activity) and diabetes. To answer this question, the investigators plan to enroll teenagers who get \<7 hours of sleep on school nights and measure changes in insulin sensitivity and dietary intake after a week of typical sleep (sleeping on their normal school schedule) and a week of longer sleep (spending 1+ hour longer in bed each night).
Online survey for 11-17 year olds about behavior, sleep, and food consumption patterns. This survey can be completed on any computer that has internet access.
The main purpose of this study is to learn about the effects of repeated exposure to sleep disruption (3 cycles of sleep disruption, each consisting of three days in a row where sleep is shortened and disrupted, followed by a single night of recovery sleep) on inflammation, mood, and pain processing (experiences/perceptions of pain). Purpose of this research project is to understand the mechanisms of how sleep disruption may change mood and the experience of pain. Understanding those mechanisms is important to develop interventions that may help to reduce the effects of sleep disruption on mood and pain.
With funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy will be implementing a new, health and wellbeing program for Head Start educators at ABCD Head Start Centers in the greater Boston area. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the combined impact of a health and wellness program and behavior change guides. The evaluation will focus on ABCD Head Start educators as the study population. Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy is responsible for implementing and evaluating this new intervention through surveys and analysis of administrative (health and wellness App) data. A paper and pencil survey will be used to gather information on dietary, physical activity, and sleep behaviors. The surveys will also include a module on satisfaction with the health and wellness App and Guides. Survey data will be combined with the administrative data about App utilization.
Mindfulness interventions are increasingly offered to undergraduate students at universities world-wide, however the evidence base is very limited. The objective is to evaluate effects of a customized mindfulness intervention (called Mindfulness-Based College) on undergraduate student health. A superiority randomized controlled trial with parallel groups will be performed with 30 participants in each arm. Participants will be randomly assigned to Mindfulness-Based College or health education waitlist control. Investigators will be blinded to treatment allocation. Participants will be assessed at baseline, 10 weeks, and six months. The primary outcome is a college health summary score, including seven evidence-based determinants of health particularly relevant to college student well-being: body mass index, physical activity, diet, alcohol consumption, sleep quantity, perceived stress, and loneliness. Primary intention-to-treat analyses will evaluate whether MB-College vs. control is associated with the summary score, utilizing generalized linear models. Secondary analyses will evaluate which, if any, of the seven determinants of health are driving associations.
The overall goal is to examine the efficacy of a circadian intervention in people with overweight and obesity and habitual short sleep duration (HSSD). Participants will undergo a randomized controlled trial, with circadian intervention and control (healthy lifestyle) groups. The circadian intervention is designed to reduce nighttime light exposure and after-dinner snack food intake. Alternatively, the control group will receive basic health information (e.g., physical activity, goal setting, and nutrition when eating out).
The First Heroes study plans to influence weight and health trajectories, modify disease risk, and improve health care services for mother-father-infant triads from racial/ethnic minority and health disparity populations. This study is a two-arm, randomized controlled trial recruiting from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) obstetrics practices. This study will enroll 250 father-mother dyads in the second trimester of pregnancy and intervene through their offspring's 1-year birthday. Each mother-father dyad participating will be randomly assigned to one of two arms: 1. Obstetric and Pediatric Standard of Care + New Parent Engagement Intervention Arm or; 2. Obstetric and Pediatric Standard of Care + Safety Control Arm.
Inflammation has been consistently associated with psychoneurological symptoms (PNS) among breast cancer survivors (BCS). Evidence supporting interventional strategies promoting symptom-self management in reducing inflammation-induced PNS in BCS is limited. Current guidelines for BCS encourage the consumption of foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids. The omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), abundantly available in fish, has a role in inflammatory downregulation. Low dietary DHA has been associated with inflammation and fatigue in BCS. Dietary planning targeting increased fish consumption thereby reducing red and processed meats are components of the major nutritional recommendations for BCS. A critical gap exists in knowledge regarding interventions promoting adherence to dietary guidelines in BCS supporting PNS self-management. This investigation uses personalized meal planning among BCSs (n=150) who are 1-2 years post-treatment for early-stage breast cancer and experiencing PNS (pain, fatigue, depression, sleep disturbance, stress) to evaluate the feasibility of a personalized meal planning approach in supporting adherence to current dietary guidelines for BCS. As a first step in this program of research, we will evaluate the feasibility of an personalized meal planning approach in promoting adherence to dietary guidelines for BCS through evaluating the feasibility of a personalized meal planning approach in a cohort of BCSs with respect to recruitment, group allocation, salivary inflammatory quantification and receptivity to and adherence with dietary interventions. This investigation will also contribute to a preliminarily evaluation of the efficacy of high or low fish diet in reducing inflammation (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-a) and PNS symptoms. Nationally, there is a priority for the development of personalized health strategies supporting self-management of adverse symptoms. This investigation focused on PNS in BCS is an initial step in generating new knowledge in efficacious approaches toward guiding decisions on dietary behavior change strategies that are personalized, cost-effective, and sustainable.
This study will include any participant who registered, and plans to attend the Inner Engineering In-Person Completion Course. In 2019, this course was offered in: Los Angeles in March, Philadelphia in April and Toronto \& Dallas in November. This study has been involved in every IECO Course since 2019 and is still active today. Beginning in August 2021, investigators will recruit for the August Inner Engineering In-Person Completion Course. Investigators anticipate that this study can include up to 5,000 study participants. Participants would attend this course and complete the pre-modules regardless of whether or not they participate in this study.
Currently, residents commonly experience dehydration and poor nutrition during nighttime duty hours as a result of heavy work load, lack of time to take nutrition and hydration breaks, or limited or no access to healthy food and drinks which may affect residents' work performance. The goal of this study is to compare the effects of two different meal compositions with no typical dietary practices (existing conditions) on work performance of the on-call residents during night shifts.
While most of the research on integrated approaches of occupational health and safety and worksite health promotion to date has focused on manufacturing settings, employment is shifting to the service sector. Within this sector, health care employs over 12 million workers, and is the second fastest growing industry in the U.S. economy. In contrast to workers in other industries, rates of occupational injuries and illnesses among health care workers have increased over the past decade. The purpose of this study is to lay the foundation for integrated interventions in health care through examination of the associations of worker health outcomes and risks on and off the job with work policies and practices and to address the prevalent issues of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), particularly low back pain disability (LBPD), and health promotions through physical activity among patient care workers. The specific aims of this study are: 1. To estimate the efficacy and determine the feasibility of an integrated intervention, addressing both health protection and health promotion in order to reduce MSD symptoms and improve health behaviors among healthcare workers. We will assess between-group differences in MSD symptoms, health behaviors, including physical activity, and a set of secondary outcomes, including unplanned absence, reported injuries, worker compensation claims and costs, turnover and retention, intention to leave the job, and work-role function. This study will explore the working hypothesis that: Workers employed at baseline in patient-care units receiving the intervention will report greater reductions in their MSD symptoms (primary outcome) and greater improvements in health behaviors, compared with workers employed at baseline in units assigned to the Usual Care control group. 2. To determine the factors in the work environment which contribute over time to reductions in MSD symptoms and improvements in safe and healthy behaviors. (1) The work environment, work organization, and psychosocial factors, measured in our current study, will be associated with changes in workers' health behaviors and health outcomes between the assessments in the current and proposed studies; (2) Improvements in the work environment over time will be associated with improvements in workers' health behaviors and health outcomes. We will conduct multilevel modeling analysis to evaluate the simultaneous effects of worker-level and unit-level factors on MSD symptoms and safety and health behaviors.