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Inflammatory Bowel DiseasesLIBERATENCT03177044

Behavioural Treatment for Functional Bowel Symptoms in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

A study testing Behavioural treatment in people with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders, run by St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne at 1 site in Australia.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

The primary aim of the project is to investigate whether a behavioural training programme improves troublesome bowel symptoms, that people with inflammatory bowel disease continue to have, despite their disease being controlled by medication. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 to 80 years
What is being tested?
Behavioural treatment
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
35 participants
Where
1 siteAustralia
Study dates
1 Jun 2017to 31 Dec 2021
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 to 80 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Proven history of inflammatory bowel disease
  • Clinical evidence of mild, stable disease or remission
  • Mayo score ≤ 4, Harvey Bradshaw index ≤ 7
  • Bothersome lower bowel symptoms of any of the following: frequency, urgency, incontinence, difficult evacuation, constipation

Who cannot join

  • Significant medical or psychiatric comorbidity that in the opinion of the investigators would interfere with bowel function or adherence to the protocol
  • Clinically significant narcotic or substance abuse that in the opinion of the investigators would interfere with bowel function or adherence to the protocol
  • Recognised eating disorder
  • Non- English speaking or illiterate
  • Pregnancy
  • Previous pelvic floor physiotherapy
  • Current participant in another trial

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Australia1 site
  • St Vincent's Hospital

    Fitzroy, Victoria, 3065

Other trials in Australia

About this study

The primary aim of the project is to investigate whether a behavioural training programme improves troublesome bowel symptoms, that people with inflammatory bowel disease continue to have, despite their disease being controlled by medication. The other aim is to determine if there are factors which influence how well the training programme works.

People attending an Inflammatory Bowel Disease clinic in a tertiary hospital, with bothersome bowel symptoms despite disease control, will be asked to join the study. This involves 2 to 6 sessions with a pelvic floor trained physiotherapist over a period of 6 months with further follow up at 12 months..

Read the detailed description

Inflammatory bowel diseases, chiefly Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, are chronic gastrointestinal (gut) conditions which tend to flare up some times and be quiet for other periods of time. They are usually controlled by medication. Inflammatory bowel disease is becoming more common, is usually diagnosed at a young age and is lifelong.

A significant number of people with inflammatory bowel disease can have bowel symptoms which are bothersome even when the disease is quiescent. These symptoms include bowel urgency, frequent toileting, incontinence (leakage), constipation (infrequent bowel actions and/or difficulty emptying the bowel), abdominal pain, rectal pain or abdominal bloating. The symptoms can be very embarrassing or stressful, limiting activities and making life less enjoyable.

People with these bowel symptoms, but without inflammatory bowel disease, respond to a type of therapy called behavioural treatment. We don't know yet if this treatment helps people with inflammatory bowel disease.

Behavioural treatment involves learning about how the bowel works, better ways to manage bowel problems and specific exercises to improve bowel control. Specially trained pelvic floor physiotherapists provide 2-6 sessions, over 6 months, of behavioural treatment which may include the use of biofeedback techniques.

Participants will be asked to complete surveys at the beginning and end of treatment and 12 months later.

There are no recognised risks or unwanted side effects caused by behavioural treatment. The benefits are that people with inflammatory bowel disease will have an alternative low cost, low risk treatment which enables them to self-manage bowel symptoms and improve the quality of their life long term.

Being tested
Behavioural treatment
Keywords
Inflammatory bowel disease, pelvic floor exercise
Medical subject headings
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, Gastrointestinal Diseases

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Behavioural treatmentBehavioural

    Also called Behavioural training programme

    2 to 6 sessions of behavioural training with a pelvic floor physiotherapist

Study groups in NCT03177044
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Behavioural treatmentExperimental2 to 6 sessions of bowel behavioural training with a pelvic floor physiotherapist
Receives: Behavioral: Behavioural treatment

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Patient rating of improvement in symptoms

    Proportion of patients achieving a rating of 'moderately improved' or 'substantially improved' on a 7 point Likert scale ranging from 'substantially worse' to 'substantially improved'

    Measured: At study completion, up to 12 weeks

Secondary outcomes (9)
  1. Change in Personal assessment of Constipation Symptoms (PAC-SYM) score

    12 constipation symptoms each rated on a 5 point Likert scale (0=symptom absent to 4 = very severe.

    Measured: From baseline to study completion (up to 12 weeks) and at 1 year

  2. Change in St Marks Faecal Incontinence Score

    Faecal incontinence symptom score ranging from 0-24

    Measured: From baseline to study completion (up to 12 weeks) and at 1 year

  3. Change in Inflammatory Bowel disease questionnaire (IBDQ) score

    Disease specific quality of life instrument with 32 questions covering 4 domains - bowel symptoms, systemic symptoms, emotional function, social function

    Measured: From baseline to study completion (up to 12 weeks) and at 1 year

  4. Change in Short Form -36 (SF-36) score

    Generic quality of life score

    Measured: From baseline to study completion (up to 12 weeks) and at 1 year

  5. Change in Hospital Anxiety and Depression Score (HADS)

    14 item questionnaire indicating presence of anxiety or depression

    Measured: From baseline to study completion (up to 12 weeks) and at 1 year

  6. Change in Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire score

    9 item questionnaire designed to assess cognitive and emotional perception of illness

    Measured: From baseline to study completion (up to 12 weeks) and at 1 year

  7. Change in Brief Cope score

    28 item questionnaire assessing patients' strategies for coping with stress

    Measured: From baseline to study completion (up to 12 weeks) and at 1 year

  8. Change in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Self-efficacy scale (IBD-SES)

    Disease specific scale with 29 items assessing how well patients believe they are managing their disease

    Measured: From baseline to study completion (up to 12 weeks) and at 1 year

  9. Change in Euro-Qol (EQ-5D)

    Generic quality of life tool to calculate quality adjusted life years (QALYs)

    Measured: From baseline to study completion (up to 12 weeks) and at 1 year

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted6 Jun 2017
  2. Study start1 Jun 2017
  3. Primary completion30 Jul 2021
  4. Study completion31 Dec 2021

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Model description
Prospective cohort
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
35 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT03177044
Sponsor's protocol ID
HREC/17/SVHM/92
Acronym
LIBERATE
Status last verified
Apr 2023
First submitted
1 Jun 2017
Last updated
12 Apr 2023
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Behavioural treatment in people with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders, run by St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne at 1 site in Australia.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 7 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 12 Apr 2023. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Australia. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Patient rating of improvement in symptoms (time frame: At study completion, up to 12 weeks). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 12 Apr 2023.

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