AzTrials
AzTrials

Behavioral and Psychiatric Symptoms of DementiaBESINCT03297268

Behavioral and Environmental Sensing and Intervention

An observational study of Behavioral and Psychiatric Symptoms of Dementia and Dementia, run by University of Virginia at 1 site in United States.

Unknown status

Status not confirmed. The sponsor has not verified this record for over two years, so it may be out of date.

Official record
Search all trials

Trial summary

This 3-phase research plan to employ Behavioral and Environmental Sensing and Intervention (BESI) will overcome the fundamental scientific barriers to realizing prediction of agitation episodes and detection early stages of dementia related agitation. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 50 years and older
What is being tested?
Intervention with Home-Based Caregivers
How many people
24 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
May 2016to Aug 2019
Phase
Observational
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 50 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Study population: Community sample of people with dementia living at home with unpaid caregivers.

Who may be able to join

  • Diagnosis of dementia
  • Living in one home for at least 2 months without hospitalization
  • Caregiver seeking support for caregiving needs
  • Have a stable caregiver
  • Be able to provide consent or assent

Who cannot join

  • Hospitalization in the last 2 months
  • Multiple and inconsistent caregivers
  • Living in multiple homes
  • Unable to provide consent or assent
  • No known dementia

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site, 1 recruiting
  • University of Virginia

    Charlottesville, Virginia, 22904

    John Lach, Ph.D, jlach@virginia.edu

    Tonya Smith-Jackson, Ph.D, tlsmithj@ncat.edu

    Recruiting

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: Behavioral and Environmental Sensing and Intervention for Dementia Caregiver Empowerment

This 3-phase research plan to employ Behavioral and Environmental Sensing and Intervention (BESI) will overcome the fundamental scientific barriers to realizing prediction of agitation episodes and detection early stages of dementia related agitation. The goal of which is empowering caregivers to intervene early and ultimately reduce agitation, thus reducing caregiver burden and extending aging-in-place and improving the associated quality-of-life and cost benefits.

Read the detailed description

The dementia syndrome of Alzheimer's disease and other disorders is rapidly expanding due to the aging of society and the longevity of citizens. In its varying stages, care of the dementia syndrome requires differing sets of skills from the caregivers, and more skilled intervention is required as the disease progresses. These caregivers experience increased burden due to the challenges and stresses of caring. A recent systematic review of caregiver burden factors revealed dementia-related agitation to be the most prevalent factor leading caregivers to institutionalize community-dwelling loved ones with dementia. Tools that empower caregivers to proactively reduce the incidents and severity of agitation would reduce stress and increase self-efficacy, thereby extending aging-in-place and the associated quality-of-life and cost benefits.

This project proposes to develop, deploy, and evaluate such a tool and to address the fundamental scientific challenges to realizing the benefits of such a technology to caregivers and persons with dementia (PWD). The tool - BESI: Behavioral and Environmental Sensing and Intervention - will be an empowerment tool for caregivers of community-dwelling PWD. BESI comprises:

  1. a system of body-worn inertial sensors and in-home acoustic, light, temperature, and motion sensors,
  2. data analysis techniques to detect and assess agitation and environmental context from these sensor streams,
  3. models for the relationship between agitation and the environment that are trained for each PWD-caregiver dyad based on a\&b, and
  4. automated real-time notifications to the caregiver based on b\&c (e.g., detection of early agitation stages or of an environment (cumulative and/or instantaneous based on the models) that has led to agitation in the past), empowering the caregiver to intervene before agitation escalation.
Being tested
Intervention with Home-Based Caregivers
Keywords
Dementia Caregiver Empowerment, Caregiver Burden, Agitation in Dementia, Environmental Sensors, Wearable Technology
Medical subject headings
Behavior, Dementia, Caregiver Burden, Aberrant Motor Behavior in Dementia

What participants receive

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

  • Intervention with Home-Based CaregiversOther

    Also called Real-time caregiver notifications

    We will assess whether real-time notifications of potential agitation via a wearable wrist device improves caregiver self-efficacy.

Study groups in NCT03297268
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Phase 1-Controlled Validation & Study PlanningPhase 1 is focused on refining and ultimately verifying BESI's basic sensing and notification functionality and validating BESI's environmental assessments in a controlled setting - namely the laboratory and homes of two healthy volunteers. This phase also serves to support further requirements gathering to refine BESI for community-based deployment. No interventions are delivered.
Phase 2 - In-situ Validation and Ethnographic AnalysisPhase 2 starts the deployment of the technology within a community context, with the goals of validating the system's ability to assess agitation and environmental events in-situ and developing the cyber-sociophysical system models based on the dyad-specific relationship between agitation and the environment. A hybrid remote ethnographic methodology will be used, combining remote BESI measurement and caregiver diaries and a time-series design for the administration of the assessment battery.
Phase 3 - Intervention with Home-Based CaregiversPhase 3 is the intervention phase and the full realization of BESI. The goal is to employ the validated assessment capabilities and the developed modeling techniques to enable real-time, dyad-specific caregiver notifications that empower a caregiver to intervene with the PWD and/or environment before agitation escalation. In addition to validation of the BESI's ability to provide such appropriate notifications, Phase 3 will also serve as a pilot study about the effect that these notifications have on caregiver empowerment (as measured by self-efficacy) and the frequency and severity of PWD agitation, thus providing proof-of-concept for BESI's potential to improve dyad outcomes and motivating a larger-scale followup study to establish proof-of-practice.
Receives: Other: Intervention with Home-Based Caregivers

What is being measured

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

  1. Improved Caregiver Self-Efficacy

    Increased scores on Revised Scale for Caregiver Self-Efficacy

    Measured: 30 days

  2. Decreased Caregiver Burden

    Zarit Burden Interview score lowered

    Measured: 30 days

Timeline

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

  1. First posted29 Sep 2017
  2. Study startMay 2016
  3. Primary completionAug 2019 (estimated)
  4. Study completionAug 2019 (estimated)

Resources

More details

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

Study design
Study type
Observational
Observational model
Family based
Time perspective
Cross-sectional
Enrolment
24 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT03297268
Sponsor's protocol ID
0037457000
Other IDs
1418622
Acronym
BESI
Status last verified
Sep 2017
First submitted
20 Sep 2017
Last updated
29 Sep 2017
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • Alzheimer's Association. 2016 Alzheimer's disease facts and figures. Alzheimers Dement. 2016 Apr;12(4):459-509. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2016.03.001.

    PubMed 27570871
  • Friedman EM, Shih RA, Langa KM, Hurd MD. US Prevalence And Predictors Of Informal Caregiving For Dementia. Health Aff (Millwood). 2015 Oct;34(10):1637-41. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0510.

    PubMed 26438738
  • Cohen-Mansfield J, Billig N. Agitated behaviors in the elderly. I. A conceptual review. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1986 Oct;34(10):711-21. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1986.tb04302.x.

    PubMed 3531296
  • Cummings J, Mintzer J, Brodaty H, Sano M, Banerjee S, Devanand DP, Gauthier S, Howard R, Lanctot K, Lyketsos CG, Peskind E, Porsteinsson AP, Reich E, Sampaio C, Steffens D, Wortmann M, Zhong K; International Psychogeriatric Association. Agitation in cognitive disorders: International Psychogeriatric Association provisional consensus clinical and research definition. Int Psychogeriatr. 2015 Jan;27(1):7-17. doi: 10.1017/S1041610214001963. Epub 2014 Oct 14.

    PubMed 25311499
  • Cohen-Mansfield J, Marx MS, Rosenthal AS. A description of agitation in a nursing home. J Gerontol. 1989 May;44(3):M77-84. doi: 10.1093/geronj/44.3.m77.

    PubMed 2715584
  • Colombo M, Vitali S, Cairati M, Vaccaro R, Andreoni G, Guaita A. Behavioral and psychotic symptoms of dementia (BPSD) improvements in a special care unit: a factor analysis. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2007;44 Suppl 1:113-20. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2007.01.017.

    PubMed 17317443
  • Steinberg M, Shao H, Zandi P, Lyketsos CG, Welsh-Bohmer KA, Norton MC, Breitner JC, Steffens DC, Tschanz JT; Cache County Investigators. Point and 5-year period prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia: the Cache County Study. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2008 Feb;23(2):170-7. doi: 10.1002/gps.1858.

    PubMed 17607801
  • Sansoni J, Anderson KH, Varona LM, Varela G. Caregivers of Alzheimer's patients and factors influencing institutionalization of loved ones: some considerations on existing literature. Ann Ig. 2013 May-Jun;25(3):235-46. doi: 10.7416/ai.2013.1926.

    PubMed 23598807
  • Fonareva I, Oken BS. Physiological and functional consequences of caregiving for relatives with dementia. Int Psychogeriatr. 2014 May;26(5):725-47. doi: 10.1017/S1041610214000039. Epub 2014 Feb 10.

    PubMed 24507463
  • Mausbach BT, Chattillion EA, Roepke SK, Patterson TL, Grant I. A comparison of psychosocial outcomes in elderly Alzheimer caregivers and noncaregivers. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2013 Jan;21(1):5-13. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2012.10.001. Epub 2013 Jan 2.

    PubMed 23290198
  • Epstein-Lubow G, Gaudiano B, Darling E, Hinckley M, Tremont G, Kohn R, Marino LJ Jr, Salloway S, Grinnell R, Miller IW. Differences in depression severity in family caregivers of hospitalized individuals with dementia and family caregivers of outpatients with dementia. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2012 Sep;20(9):815-9. doi: 10.1097/JGP.0b013e318235b62f.

    PubMed 21997604
  • Bankole A, Anderson M, Smith-Jackson T, Knight A, Oh K, Brantley J, Barth A, Lach J. Validation of noninvasive body sensor network technology in the detection of agitation in dementia. Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2012 Aug;27(5):346-54. doi: 10.1177/1533317512452036.

    PubMed 22815084
  • Rowe M, Lane S, Phipps C. CareWatch: A Home Monitoring System for Use in Homes of Persons With Cognitive Impairment. Top Geriatr Rehabil. 2007 Jan 1;23(1):3-8. doi: 10.1097/00013614-200701000-00003.

    PubMed 20454554
  • Sacco G, Joumier V, Darmon N, Dechamps A, Derreumaux A, Lee JH, Piano J, Bordone N, Konig A, Teboul B, David R, Guerin O, Bremond F, Robert P. Detection of activities of daily living impairment in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment using information and communication technology. Clin Interv Aging. 2012;7:539-49. doi: 10.2147/CIA.S36297. Epub 2012 Dec 4.

    PubMed 23271900
  • Perlman CM, Hirdes JP. The aggressive behavior scale: a new scale to measure aggression based on the minimum data set. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2008 Dec;56(12):2298-303. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2008.02048.x.

    PubMed 19093929

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

An observational study of Behavioral and Psychiatric Symptoms of Dementia and Dementia, run by University of Virginia at 1 site in United States.

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 5 inclusion and 5 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: status not confirmed, as of the sponsor's last update on 29 Sep 2017. 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 United States. 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?

Results are not available in the source record.

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

Each site lists its own contact: choose the nearest one under Trial locations. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Improved Caregiver Self-Efficacy (time frame: 30 days). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT03297268, which also lists 33 linked publications.

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 29 Sep 2017.

Free account

Log in to keep searching

You’ve used your 3 free searches. AzTrials is free: log in or create a free account to keep searching clinical trials and save the ones you want to follow.

Create a free accountLog in