Prolonged Grief Disorder
Conditions
Brief summary
Experiencing the death of a loved one is inevitable for older adults. Before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, over 2.5 million people died annually in the United States, including 52,000 in Wisconsin alone, and COVID-19 has added to this toll. Each person who dies leaves an average of five grieving people behind. Most grieving older adults are resilient and recover their pre-loss functioning within one year. However, in about 10%, acute grief becomes protracted and debilitating, leading to the development of prolonged grief disorder (PGD), a clinically diagnosable mental health condition. PGD in older adults increases the risk for poorer medical, mental health, and cognitive outcomes; lower quality of life; disability; premature mortality; and suicide. Despite the magnitude of this problem, the neurobiology of PGD in older adults is poorly understood. By using Iyengar Yoga (IY) as a probe for PGD neurobiology, this pilot project aims to address this critical gap.
Detailed description
Our goal is to conduct a pilot study to examine in PGD the modulating effects of 10-week IY on circulating endocannabinoid and emotion processing brain circuit, and the associations between biological changes and clinical response.
Interventions
OTHERIyengar Yoga
Participation in Iyengar Yoga classes
OTHERSocialization Control
Participation in socialization control group sessions
Sponsors
Medical College of Wisconsin
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
40 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Male or female greater than or equal to 40 years of age * Bereavement \>6 months * Score greater than or equal to 25 on the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG) * Presence of PGD (subsyndromal and syndromal) * Adequate visual and auditory acuity
Exclusion criteria
* Delirium/unstable medical conditions * Lifetime history of neurological illnesses: seizures, stroke, dementia of any etiology, severe head injury, brain tumor or surgery * Serious back, joint or neck injuries within the past 3 months * Currently practicing yoga * Gross structural abnormalities on T1-weighted images * Lifetime history of the following psychiatric disorders: bipolar or psychotic disorders, including psychotic depression * Current alcohol/drug abuse or dependence * Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contraindications * Acute suicidality
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in circulating endocannabinoid concentrations | 10 weeks | Change in circulating endocannabinoids from baseline to post-intervention |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in neural activity measured using Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) | 10 weeks | Change in neural activity from baseline to post-intervention |
| Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG) scale score change | 10 weeks | ICG score ranges from 0 to 76 (higher scores indicate worse outcome) |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed