Mild Traumatic Brain InjurySOAR-CSNINCT04890925
A Community Support Network Intervention in SOAR Project Intimate Partner Violence-Related Traumatic Brain Injury
A study testing Community Support Network (CSN) intervention in people with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, run by University of British Columbia at 1 site in Canada.
Trial summary
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) comprises physical, sexual and emotional abuse and controlling behaviors imposed by an intimate partner. It is estimated that up to 92% of women who survive IPV may have suffered one or more traumatic brain injuries (TBI) from blows to the head, face, and neck, and/or anoxia or hypoxia… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 50 years, women onlyHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
- What is being tested?
- Community Support Network (CSN) intervention
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 78 participants
- Where
- 1 siteCanada
- Study dates
- 1 May 2022to 30 May 2024
- 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 50 years
- Women only
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult
Who may be able to join
- Participants who identify as women and are survivors of IPV-related TBI
Who cannot join
- Pregnancy; any diagnosed neurological disorder other than brain injury known to affect cerebrovascular, neurocognitive, and/or sensorimotor function (e.g., stroke, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, migraine, seizures, etc.); taking any medication that might alter your blood pressure; have an injury or illness which affects your joints like arthritis. Participants will be tested in the early follicular phase or, if on combined hormonal contraception, at the end of the week that is off this contraception.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
Canada1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
Nanaimo Brain Injury Society
Nanaimo, British Columbia, V9R 3A3
Kix Citton, ed@nbis.ca
About this study
Official title: Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Community Support Network Intervention For
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) comprises physical, sexual and emotional abuse and controlling behaviors imposed by an intimate partner. It is estimated that up to 92% of women who survive IPV may have suffered one or more traumatic brain injuries (TBI) from blows to the head, face, and neck, and/or anoxia or hypoxia due to strangulation. Even mild TBI may manifest as alternations in consciousness, black out, dizziness, disorientation, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, muscles weakness or paralysis and deficits in memory, attention, planning as well as executive functions. These signs and symptoms of TBI and their consequences impact the quality of life of women surviving IPV. Furthermore, survivors experiencing multiple IPV may acquire larger extent of the injury. Though this is recognized as an urgent and serious issue worldwide, it has been remarkably understudied.
To improve the quality of life of women experiencing IPV-related TBI, and to prevent potential longer-term consequences, an evidence-based therapeutic treatment is an urgent need. The Supporting Survivors of Abuse and Brain Injury through Research (SOAR) Project at the University of British Columbia-Okanagan was designed to integrate TBI knowledge into community-based supports. This Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) trainee application will focus on the evaluation of the effectiveness of a community support network intervention for women with IPV-related TBI. The outcomes will generate valuable evidence to inform potential new TBI-informed policies regarding community-based and health care supports for survivors of IPV.
Read the detailed description
Globally, about 35% of women experience intimate partner violence (IPV) over the course of their lives. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a rapid increase of the incidence of IPV as vulnerable women are more likely to be trapped at home with their abusers. In Canada, IPV affects one in four women over their lifetime. In a study conducted in the United States, a heterogeneous (with respect to race, age, education level and employment status) sample of 99 community and shelter women, showed that about 75% sustained at least one IPV-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 50% of women sustained multiple IPV-related TBIs. Similar to post-concussive signs and symptoms, women with IPV-related TBI demonstrate cognitive impairments (e.g., deficits in memory, attention, reasoning, planning and executive functioning), psychopathological problems (such as depression, anxiety, fatigue and post-traumatic stress disorders), and/or sensorimotor problems (such as paralysis or paresis of facial or extremity muscles, numbness, loss of sensation, muscle spasms, facial droop, and unilateral weakness), due to blows to the head, face, or neck and/or strangulation which ultimately impacts quality of life.
The very few studies conducted in this population have reported the prevalence of IPV-related TBI, characteristic signs and symptoms, prevalence and primary sequelae of non-fatal strangulation, and brain network organization associated with TBI and its cognitive effects. A recent randomized trial on prevention of IPV and relationship problems focused on the parents of newborns demonstrated that prevention interventions for at-risk couples were not effective and rather showed iatrogenic effects for some couples. Therefore, therapeutic treatment for IPV-related TBI survivors is crucial, and any physical or cognitive impairment in these survivors require therapeutic interventions similar to non-partner related TBIs.
Effective therapeutic interventions would not only improve IPV-related TBI survivors' quality of life but also has the potential to prevent longer-term neurodegeneration if early detection is possible and timely treatment is provided. However, women rarely receive any therapeutic assessment or interventions after sustaining IPV-related TBI due to the lack of awareness regarding early detection and need of therapeutic interventions. On the other hand, evidence-based therapeutic interventions to improve the quality of life of survivors of IPV-related TBI are still lacking.
The Supporting Survivors of Abuse and Brain Injury through Research (SOAR) Project at UBC-Okanagan is a multidisciplinary, community-based partnership designed to i) investigate the incidence and characteristics of IPV-related TBI; ii) use integrated knowledge translation to co-create and disseminate knowledge products designed to increase knowledge and awareness of TBI in those who provide support for IPV survivors; and iii) evaluate the effectiveness of a community support network intervention for women with IPV-related TBI. This MSFHR trainee application will focus on this last aim.
This project will characterize quality of life, resilience, and neurocognitive and sensorimotor function prior to, immediately after, and 6 months after a 6-month community-based intervention incorporating executive function, physical activity, mindfulness/meditation, and health counseling components by comparing with a group receiving usual care and control participants. In addition, exploratory analyses will demonstrate the response to the intervention depending upon the severity of the IPV-related TBI, whether strangulation was part of the experience or not, and the extent of psychopathological comorbidities (e.g., post traumatic stress disorders, anxiety, depression, adverse childhood experiences, etc.).
This study aims to disseminate the findings not only through conference presentations and peer-reviewed journal publications but also through ongoing engagement with our local, regional, and national community partner organizations. We have already co-developed and implemented a knowledge product - the Women's Support Workers module of the Concussion Awareness Training Tool (CATT) to help raise knowledge and awareness of brain injury in those who provide support to survivors of IPV. We would envision incorporating some of the key takeaway findings from the SOAR project into an updated version of the CATT module.
The expected outcomes of this study will add strong evidence to the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions for, and strengthen our understanding of, this understudied experience. More broadly, this study will (i) enhance professional knowledge and research skills in understanding this underserved population, (ii) build up research knowledge on this topic, and (iii) increase knowledge on the efficacy of a novel intervention. Thus, clearly and objectively characterizing the potential for a community support network to improve resiliency, quality of life, and neurocognition will have far-reaching implications for social support policy and funding for this population and their caregivers.
- Conditions
- Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
- Being tested
- Community Support Network (CSN) intervention, Usual care
- Keywords
- Brain injury, Cognitive functions, Domestic violence, Intimate partner violence, Quality of life, Strangulation, Women
- Medical subject headings
- Brain Concussion, Brain Injuries
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Community Support Network (CSN) interventionBehavioural
Also called Behavioral training, Cognitive and physical training
The SOAR Community Support Network (CSN) intervention is a multi-pillar, interdisciplinary system platform focused on improving higher order cognitive functions through aerobic exercise, mindfulness meditation, counselling, quality of life tracking, and cognitive exercises. The goal is to improve cognitive functions such as executive function, reasoning, and memory among those experiencing the effects of brain injury. Individually tailored protocol is administered to each participant. Goals are set daily, weekly, and monthly, and accomplishments tracked in a database. The CSN seeks to test and evaluate the success of the program when applied, and tailored, to survivors of brain injury in intimate partner violence.
Usual careBehavioural
Participants in this group will receive dose-equivalent usual care based on the findings of a recent survey of the Canadian Rehabilitation Clinicians for concussion management, scoping review and clinical studies. Based on the evidence, usual care in this study will consist of education and aerobic exercises. Education includes information about the injury, recovery, management, nutrition, hydration, sleep, reassurance and goal setting that will be adapted to make appropriate to the population of this study. Aerobics include stationary cycling and treadmill exercises.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Control group | No intervention | Women who have experienced intimate partner violence but no sustained brain injury (Brain Injury Severity Assessment; BISA = 0) |
| Community Support Network (CSN) intervention group | Experimental | The SOAR Community Support Network (CSN) intervention includes cognitive training, aerobic exercise, mindfulness meditation, counselling, quality of life tracking. Receives: Behavioral: Community Support Network (CSN) intervention |
| Usual care | Active comparator | Participants in this group will receive dose-equivalent usual care Receives: Behavioral: Usual care |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Cambridge Brain Science tasks (Now called Creyos) for assessing change in neuroconginitve functions and Task Switching Task for assessing executive functions
Two purposes.
- To measure "change" from baseline at one month.
- To measure intervention-induced change, immediately after intervention and at 6 months post intervention
Assessments include 12 different tasks to measure short-term memory, response inhibition, attention, verbal reasoning, visuospatial working memory, deductive reasoning, episodic memory, visuospatial processing, mental rotation, planning, spatial short-term memory, and working memory. The detail on CBS tests are available online at https://cambridgebrainsciences.com. Some of the tasks have to be solved as quickly and accurately as possible, whereas others have to be solved only as accurately as possible. Neurocognitive functions are assessed in terms of accuracy (number of correct judgments) and efficiency (ratio between total judgments and correct judgments) and/or speed (number of judgments at all) for each subtest. Higher scores indicate higher performance in each task.
Measured: The 1st and 2nd sessions (one month apart) will occur prior to the enrollment to the intervention, the 3rd within 3 days of completing the intervention, and the 4th, 6 months after completing the intervention.
Connor-Davidson Resiliency Scale to measure change in resilience
Two purposes.
- To measure "change" from baseline at one month.
- To measure intervention-induced change, immediately after intervention and at 6 months post intervention
Resiliency will be characterized using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. This 25-item self-rated questionnaire measures responses to five factors associated with resilience on a 5-point Likert scale as follows: not true at all (0), rarely true (1), sometimes true (2), often true (3), and true nearly all of the time (4). The scale is rated based on how the participant has felt over the past month. The total score ranges from 0-100, with higher scores reflecting greater resilience. It has sound psychometric properties.
Measured: The 1st and 2nd sessions (one month apart) will occur prior to the enrollment to the intervention, the 3rd within 3 days of completing the intervention, and the 4th, 6 months after completing the intervention.
Secondary outcomes (1)
Medical Outcomes study Questionnaire Short Form 36 (SF-36) to measure change in overall health status.
Two purposes.
- To measure "change" from baseline at one month.
- To measure intervention-induced change, immediately after intervention and at 6 months post intervention
Quality of Life will be measured using a modified version of the SF-36. This 36-item questionnaire consists of 8-scaled scores covering several aspects of quality of life and general health. The SF-36 has eight scaled (Vitality, Physical functioning, Bodily pain, General health perceptions, Physical role functioning, Emotional role functioning, Social role functioning, and Mental health) scores. The scores are weighted sums of the questions in each section. Scores range from 0 - 100; with lower scores indicating more disability and higher scores indicating less disability. The SF-36 is a reliable and well validated tool.
Measured: The 1st and 2nd sessions (one month apart) will occur prior to the enrollment to the intervention, the 3rd within 3 days of completing the intervention, and the 4th, 6 months after completing the intervention.
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted18 May 2021
- Study start1 May 2022
- Primary completion30 Dec 2023 (estimated)
- Study completion30 May 2024 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (15)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Mild Traumatic Brain InjuryStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by University of British ColumbiaThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
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
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- This is an experimental design. A comparison with control group is made to evaluate time related changes. The intervention (Community Support Network) group will be compared with a group receiving usual care to investigate 6 months intervention-induced effect.
- Masking
- Double blind
- Who is masked
- Participant, Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 78 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of British Columbia
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- BrainTrust Canada, The Kelowna Women's Shelter, ABI Wellness, Nanaimo Brain Injury Society
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Paul van Donkelaar, University of British Columbia
- Investigators
- Kelsey Helm, Study director, SOAR project at UBC
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04890925
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- H20-02412
- Acronym
- SOAR-CSNI
- Status last verified
- May 2023
- First submitted
- 5 May 2021
- Last updated
- 23 May 2023
- Results posted
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Undecided: There is a plan to make individual participant data available to other researchers. However, it has not been finalized.
Publications
Buttell F, Ferreira RJ. The hidden disaster of COVID-19: Intimate partner violence. Psychol Trauma. 2020 Aug;12(S1):S197-S198. doi: 10.1037/tra0000646. Epub 2020 Jun 22.
PubMed 32567875Colantonio A. Beyond Football: Intimate Partner Violence and Concussion/Brain Injury. Canadian Psychology. 2020.
Valera EM, Berenbaum H. Brain injury in battered women. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2003 Aug;71(4):797-804. doi: 10.1037/0022-006x.71.4.797.
PubMed 12924684Valera EM, Cao A, Pasternak O, Shenton ME, Kubicki M, Makris N, Adra N. White Matter Correlates of Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries in Women Subjected to Intimate-Partner Violence: A Preliminary Study. J Neurotrauma. 2019 Mar 1;36(5):661-668. doi: 10.1089/neu.2018.5734. Epub 2018 Oct 4.
PubMed 29873292Patch M, Anderson JC, Campbell JC. Injuries of Women Surviving Intimate Partner Strangulation and Subsequent Emergency Health Care Seeking: An Integrative Evidence Review. J Emerg Nurs. 2018 Jul;44(4):384-393. doi: 10.1016/j.jen.2017.12.001. Epub 2017 Dec 30.
PubMed 29292069Valera E, Kucyi A. Brain injury in women experiencing intimate partner-violence: neural mechanistic evidence of an "invisible" trauma. Brain Imaging Behav. 2017 Dec;11(6):1664-1677. doi: 10.1007/s11682-016-9643-1.
PubMed 27766587Smirl JD, Jones KE, Copeland P, Khatra O, Taylor EH, Van Donkelaar P. Characterizing symptoms of traumatic brain injury in survivors of intimate partner violence. Brain Inj. 2019;33(12):1529-1538. doi: 10.1080/02699052.2019.1658129. Epub 2019 Aug 23.
PubMed 31442093Heyman RE, Slep AMS, Lorber MF, Mitnick DM, Xu S, Baucom KJW, Halford WK, Niolon PH. A Randomized, Controlled Trial of the Impact of the Couple CARE for Parents of Newborns Program on the Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence and Relationship Problems. Prev Sci. 2019 Jul;20(5):620-631. doi: 10.1007/s11121-018-0961-y.
PubMed 30535623Kondo A, Shahpasand K, Mannix R, Qiu J, Moncaster J, Chen CH, Yao Y, Lin YM, Driver JA, Sun Y, Wei S, Luo ML, Albayram O, Huang P, Rotenberg A, Ryo A, Goldstein LE, Pascual-Leone A, McKee AC, Meehan W, Zhou XZ, Lu KP. Antibody against early driver of neurodegeneration cis P-tau blocks brain injury and tauopathy. Nature. 2015 Jul 23;523(7561):431-436. doi: 10.1038/nature14658. Epub 2015 Jul 15.
PubMed 26176913Iverson KM, Sayer NA, Meterko M, Stolzmann K, Suri P, Gormley K, Nealon Seibert M, Yan K, Pogoda TK. Intimate Partner Violence Among Female OEF/OIF/OND Veterans Who Were Evaluated for Traumatic Brain Injury in the Veterans Health Administration: A Preliminary Investigation. J Interpers Violence. 2020 Jul;35(13-14):2422-2445. doi: 10.1177/0886260517702491. Epub 2017 Apr 18.
PubMed 29294714Dobney DM, Miller MB, Tufts E. Non-pharmacological rehabilitation interventions for concussion in children: a scoping review. Disabil Rehabil. 2019 Mar;41(6):727-739. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2017.1400595. Epub 2017 Nov 20.
PubMed 29157025Varner CE. Specialized concussion clinic referrals are not intended for all acute concussion patients in the emergency department. CJEM. 2019 Nov;21(6):694-697. doi: 10.1017/cem.2019.430. No abstract available.
PubMed 31771689Varner CE, McLeod S, Nahiddi N, Lougheed RE, Dear TE, Borgundvaag B. Cognitive Rest and Graduated Return to Usual Activities Versus Usual Care for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Emergency Department Discharge Instructions. Acad Emerg Med. 2017 Jan;24(1):75-82. doi: 10.1111/acem.13073.
PubMed 27792852Connor KM, Davidson JR. Development of a new resilience scale: the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Depress Anxiety. 2003;18(2):76-82. doi: 10.1002/da.10113.
PubMed 12964174Teel E, Brossard-Racine M, Corbin-Berrigan LA, Gagnon I. Perceptual Cognitive Training Does Not Improve Clinical Outcomes at 4 and 12 Weeks Following Concussion in Children and Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2021 Mar-Apr 01;36(2):E97-E107. doi: 10.1097/HTR.0000000000000633.
PubMed 33201041
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 23 May 2023. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Community Support Network Intervention For
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04890925
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- SOAR-CSNI / H20-02412
- Conditions
- Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
- Keywords
- Brain injury, Cognitive functions, Domestic violence, Intimate partner violence, Quality of life, Strangulation, Women
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Unknown status
- Enrolment
- 78 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- University of British ColumbiaUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- BrainTrust Canada, The Kelowna Women's Shelter, ABI Wellness, Nanaimo Brain Injury Society
- Study start
- 1 May 2022 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 30 Dec 2023 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 30 May 2024 (estimated)
- First posted
- 18 May 2021 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) comprises physical, sexual and emotional abuse and controlling behaviors imposed by an intimate partner. It is estimated that up to 92% of women who survive IPV may have suffered one or more traumatic brain injuries (TBI) from blows to the head, face, and neck, and/or anoxia or hypoxia due to strangulation. Even mild TBI may manifest as alternations in consciousness, black out, dizziness, disorientation, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, muscles weakness or paralysis and deficits in memory, attention, planning as well as executive functions. These signs and symptoms of TBI and their consequences impact the quality of life of women surviving IPV. Furthermore, survivors experiencing multiple IPV may acquire larger extent of the injury. Though this is recognized as an urgent and serious issue worldwide, it has been remarkably understudied.
To improve the quality of life of women experiencing IPV-related TBI, and to prevent potential longer-term consequences, an evidence-based therapeutic treatment is an urgent need. The Supporting Survivors of Abuse and Brain Injury through Research (SOAR) Project at the University of British Columbia-Okanagan was designed to integrate TBI knowledge into community-based supports. This Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) trainee application will focus on the evaluation of the effectiveness of a community support network intervention for women with IPV-related TBI. The outcomes will generate valuable evidence to inform potential new TBI-informed policies regarding community-based and health care supports for survivors of IPV.
Detailed description
Globally, about 35% of women experience intimate partner violence (IPV) over the course of their lives. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a rapid increase of the incidence of IPV as vulnerable women are more likely to be trapped at home with their abusers. In Canada, IPV affects one in four women over their lifetime. In a study conducted in the United States, a heterogeneous (with respect to race, age, education level and employment status) sample of 99 community and shelter women, showed that about 75% sustained at least one IPV-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 50% of women sustained multiple IPV-related TBIs. Similar to post-concussive signs and symptoms, women with IPV-related TBI demonstrate cognitive impairments (e.g., deficits in memory, attention, reasoning, planning and executive functioning), psychopathological problems (such as depression, anxiety, fatigue and post-traumatic stress disorders), and/or sensorimotor problems (such as paralysis or paresis of facial or extremity muscles, numbness, loss of sensation, muscle spasms, facial droop, and unilateral weakness), due to blows to the head, face, or neck and/or strangulation which ultimately impacts quality of life.
The very few studies conducted in this population have reported the prevalence of IPV-related TBI, characteristic signs and symptoms, prevalence and primary sequelae of non-fatal strangulation, and brain network organization associated with TBI and its cognitive effects. A recent randomized trial on prevention of IPV and relationship problems focused on the parents of newborns demonstrated that prevention interventions for at-risk couples were not effective and rather showed iatrogenic effects for some couples. Therefore, therapeutic treatment for IPV-related TBI survivors is crucial, and any physical or cognitive impairment in these survivors require therapeutic interventions similar to non-partner related TBIs.
Effective therapeutic interventions would not only improve IPV-related TBI survivors' quality of life but also has the potential to prevent longer-term neurodegeneration if early detection is possible and timely treatment is provided. However, women rarely receive any therapeutic assessment or interventions after sustaining IPV-related TBI due to the lack of awareness regarding early detection and need of therapeutic interventions. On the other hand, evidence-based therapeutic interventions to improve the quality of life of survivors of IPV-related TBI are still lacking.
The Supporting Survivors of Abuse and Brain Injury through Research (SOAR) Project at UBC-Okanagan is a multidisciplinary, community-based partnership designed to i) investigate the incidence and characteristics of IPV-related TBI; ii) use integrated knowledge translation to co-create and disseminate knowledge products designed to increase knowledge and awareness of TBI in those who provide support for IPV survivors; and iii) evaluate the effectiveness of a community support network intervention for women with IPV-related TBI. This MSFHR trainee application will focus on this last aim.
This project will characterize quality of life, resilience, and neurocognitive and sensorimotor function prior to, immediately after, and 6 months after a 6-month community-based intervention incorporating executive function, physical activity, mindfulness/meditation, and health counseling components by comparing with a group receiving usual care and control participants. In addition, exploratory analyses will demonstrate the response to the intervention depending upon the severity of the IPV-related TBI, whether strangulation was part of the experience or not, and the extent of psychopathological comorbidities (e.g., post traumatic stress disorders, anxiety, depression, adverse childhood experiences, etc.).
This study aims to disseminate the findings not only through conference presentations and peer-reviewed journal publications but also through ongoing engagement with our local, regional, and national community partner organizations. We have already co-developed and implemented a knowledge product - the Women's Support Workers module of the Concussion Awareness Training Tool (CATT) to help raise knowledge and awareness of brain injury in those who provide support to survivors of IPV. We would envision incorporating some of the key takeaway findings from the SOAR project into an updated version of the CATT module.
The expected outcomes of this study will add strong evidence to the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions for, and strengthen our understanding of, this understudied experience. More broadly, this study will (i) enhance professional knowledge and research skills in understanding this underserved population, (ii) build up research knowledge on this topic, and (iii) increase knowledge on the efficacy of a novel intervention. Thus, clearly and objectively characterizing the potential for a community support network to improve resiliency, quality of life, and neurocognition will have far-reaching implications for social support policy and funding for this population and their caregivers.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Double blind (participant, outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 3
- Model description
- This is an experimental design. A comparison with control group is made to evaluate time related changes. The intervention (Community Support Network) group will be compared with a group receiving usual care to investigate 6 months intervention-induced effect.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Control group | No intervention | –Women who have experienced intimate partner violence but no sustained brain injury (Brain Injury Severity Assessment; BISA = 0) |
| Community Support Network (CSN) intervention group | Experimental | Behavioral: Community Support Network (CSN) interventionThe SOAR Community Support Network (CSN) intervention includes cognitive training, aerobic exercise, mindfulness meditation, counselling, quality of life tracking. |
| Usual care | Active comparator | Behavioral: Usual careParticipants in this group will receive dose-equivalent usual care |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 50 years
- Sex
- Female only
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult
Key inclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Participants who identify as women and are survivors of IPV-related TBI
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Pregnancy; any diagnosed neurological disorder other than brain injury known to affect cerebrovascular, neurocognitive, and/or sensorimotor function (e.g., stroke, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, migraine, seizures, etc.); taking any medication that might alter your blood pressure; have an injury or illness which affects your joints like arthritis. Participants will be tested in the early follicular phase or, if on combined hormonal contraception, at the end of the week that is off this contraception.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Community Support Network (CSN) interventionAlso: Behavioral training, Cognitive and physical trainingThe SOAR Community Support Network (CSN) intervention is a multi-pillar, interdisciplinary system platform focused on improving higher order cognitive functions through aerobic exercise, mindfulness meditation, counselling, quality of life tracking, and cognitive exercises. The goal is to improve cognitive functions such as executive function, reasoning, and memory among those experiencing the effects of brain injury. Individually tailored protocol is administered to each participant. Goals are set daily, weekly, and monthly, and accomplishments tracked in a database. The CSN seeks to test and evaluate the success of the program when applied, and tailored, to survivors of brain injury in intimate partner violence. | Behavioural | Community Support Network (CSN) intervention group |
| Usual careParticipants in this group will receive dose-equivalent usual care based on the findings of a recent survey of the Canadian Rehabilitation Clinicians for concussion management, scoping review and clinical studies. Based on the evidence, usual care in this study will consist of education and aerobic exercises. Education includes information about the injury, recovery, management, nutrition, hydration, sleep, reassurance and goal setting that will be adapted to make appropriate to the population of this study. Aerobics include stationary cycling and treadmill exercises. | Behavioural | Usual care |
Primary outcome
Cambridge Brain Science tasks (Now called Creyos) for assessing change in neuroconginitve functions and Task Switching Task for assessing executive functions
Time frame: The 1st and 2nd sessions (one month apart) will occur prior to the enrollment to the intervention, the 3rd within 3 days of completing the intervention, and the 4th, 6 months after completing the intervention.
Two purposes. 1. To measure "change" from baseline at one month. 2. To measure intervention-induced change, immediately after intervention and at 6 months post intervention Assessments include 12 different tasks to measure short-term memory, response inhibition, attention, verbal reasoning, visuospatial working memory, deductive reasoning, episodic memory, visuospatial processing, mental rotation, planning, spatial short-term memory, and working memory. The detail on CBS tests are available online at https://cambridgebrainsciences.com. Some of the tasks have to be solved as quickly and accurately as possible, whereas others have to be solved only as accurately as possible. Neurocognitive functions are assessed in terms of accuracy (number of correct judgments) and efficiency (ratio between total judgments and correct judgments) and/or speed (number of judgments at all) for each subtest. Higher scores indicate higher performance in each task.
Connor-Davidson Resiliency Scale to measure change in resilience
Time frame: The 1st and 2nd sessions (one month apart) will occur prior to the enrollment to the intervention, the 3rd within 3 days of completing the intervention, and the 4th, 6 months after completing the intervention.
Two purposes. 1. To measure "change" from baseline at one month. 2. To measure intervention-induced change, immediately after intervention and at 6 months post intervention Resiliency will be characterized using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. This 25-item self-rated questionnaire measures responses to five factors associated with resilience on a 5-point Likert scale as follows: not true at all (0), rarely true (1), sometimes true (2), often true (3), and true nearly all of the time (4). The scale is rated based on how the participant has felt over the past month. The total score ranges from 0-100, with higher scores reflecting greater resilience. It has sound psychometric properties.
1 secondary outcome
Medical Outcomes study Questionnaire Short Form 36 (SF-36) to measure change in overall health status.
Time frame: The 1st and 2nd sessions (one month apart) will occur prior to the enrollment to the intervention, the 3rd within 3 days of completing the intervention, and the 4th, 6 months after completing the intervention.
Results and safety
Results are not available in the source record.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 23 May 2023.
- Results publication: PubMed 32567875Buttell F, Ferreira RJ. The hidden disaster of COVID-19: Intimate partner violence. Psychol Trauma. 2020 Aug;12(S1):S197-S198. doi: 10.1037/tra0000646. Epub 2020 Jun 22.
- Results publicationColantonio A. Beyond Football: Intimate Partner Violence and Concussion/Brain Injury. Canadian Psychology. 2020.
- Results publication: PubMed 12924684Valera EM, Berenbaum H. Brain injury in battered women. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2003 Aug;71(4):797-804. doi: 10.1037/0022-006x.71.4.797.
- Results publication: PubMed 29873292Valera EM, Cao A, Pasternak O, Shenton ME, Kubicki M, Makris N, Adra N. White Matter Correlates of Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries in Women Subjected to Intimate-Partner Violence: A Preliminary Study. J Neurotrauma. 2019 Mar 1;36(5):661-668. doi: 10.1089/neu.2018.5734. Epub 2018 Oct 4.
- Results publication: PubMed 29292069Patch M, Anderson JC, Campbell JC. Injuries of Women Surviving Intimate Partner Strangulation and Subsequent Emergency Health Care Seeking: An Integrative Evidence Review. J Emerg Nurs. 2018 Jul;44(4):384-393. doi: 10.1016/j.jen.2017.12.001. Epub 2017 Dec 30.
- Results publication: PubMed 27766587Valera E, Kucyi A. Brain injury in women experiencing intimate partner-violence: neural mechanistic evidence of an "invisible" trauma. Brain Imaging Behav. 2017 Dec;11(6):1664-1677. doi: 10.1007/s11682-016-9643-1.
- Results publication: PubMed 31442093Smirl JD, Jones KE, Copeland P, Khatra O, Taylor EH, Van Donkelaar P. Characterizing symptoms of traumatic brain injury in survivors of intimate partner violence. Brain Inj. 2019;33(12):1529-1538. doi: 10.1080/02699052.2019.1658129. Epub 2019 Aug 23.
- Results publication: PubMed 30535623Heyman RE, Slep AMS, Lorber MF, Mitnick DM, Xu S, Baucom KJW, Halford WK, Niolon PH. A Randomized, Controlled Trial of the Impact of the Couple CARE for Parents of Newborns Program on the Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence and Relationship Problems. Prev Sci. 2019 Jul;20(5):620-631. doi: 10.1007/s11121-018-0961-y.
- Results publication: PubMed 26176913Kondo A, Shahpasand K, Mannix R, Qiu J, Moncaster J, Chen CH, Yao Y, Lin YM, Driver JA, Sun Y, Wei S, Luo ML, Albayram O, Huang P, Rotenberg A, Ryo A, Goldstein LE, Pascual-Leone A, McKee AC, Meehan W, Zhou XZ, Lu KP. Antibody against early driver of neurodegeneration cis P-tau blocks brain injury and tauopathy. Nature. 2015 Jul 23;523(7561):431-436. doi: 10.1038/nature14658. Epub 2015 Jul 15.
- Results publication: PubMed 29294714Iverson KM, Sayer NA, Meterko M, Stolzmann K, Suri P, Gormley K, Nealon Seibert M, Yan K, Pogoda TK. Intimate Partner Violence Among Female OEF/OIF/OND Veterans Who Were Evaluated for Traumatic Brain Injury in the Veterans Health Administration: A Preliminary Investigation. J Interpers Violence. 2020 Jul;35(13-14):2422-2445. doi: 10.1177/0886260517702491. Epub 2017 Apr 18.
- Results publication: PubMed 29157025Dobney DM, Miller MB, Tufts E. Non-pharmacological rehabilitation interventions for concussion in children: a scoping review. Disabil Rehabil. 2019 Mar;41(6):727-739. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2017.1400595. Epub 2017 Nov 20.
- Results publication: PubMed 31771689Varner CE. Specialized concussion clinic referrals are not intended for all acute concussion patients in the emergency department. CJEM. 2019 Nov;21(6):694-697. doi: 10.1017/cem.2019.430. No abstract available.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Undecided. There is a plan to make individual participant data available to other researchers. However, it has not been finalized.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Kelsey Helm study director
SOAR project at UBC
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Community Support Network (CSN) intervention in people with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, run by University of British Columbia at 1 site in Canada.
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 1 inclusion and 1 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 23 May 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 Canada. 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?
Contact Shambhu P Adhikari, PhD (7785942164, shambhu.adhikri@ubc.ca), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Cambridge Brain Science tasks (Now called Creyos) for assessing change in neuroconginitve functions and Task Switching Task for assessing executive functions (time frame: The 1st and 2nd sessions (one month apart) will occur prior to the enrollment to the intervention, the 3rd within 3 days of completing the intervention, and the 4th, 6 months after completing the intervention.). 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 NCT04890925, which also lists 15 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 23 May 2023.