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Physical Activity in the Format of Self-defence Training for Depressive Symptoms

Effect of Physical Activity in the Format of Self-defence Training for Depressive Symptoms - A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial

Status
UNKNOWN
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05313542
Enrollment
40
Registered
2022-04-06
Start date
2022-09-01
Completion date
2023-08-31
Last updated
2022-07-20

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Depressive Symptoms

Keywords

Self Defence Training, Physical Activity

Brief summary

Inadequate mental health care capacity is a long-standing issue in Hong Kong (Yang & Mak, 2020). For example, a recent study predicts an additional 12% service need for specialist psychiatric care (Ni et al., 2020). It would be helpful to develop interventions that would ease the high demand of the health care system. Physical activity has been shown to reduce depressive symptoms in a number of studies (Bellón et al., 2021; Josefsson et al., 2014; Kvam et al., 2018; Schuch et al., 2016). Its flexibility and low-cost nature make physical activity a good intervention option for depressed individuals to do it anytime and anywhere. This study aims to investigate the effect of physical activity intervention in the format of self-defence training on depressive symptoms. Around 40 eligible participants with at least moderate level of depressive symptoms will be randomly assigned to the physical activity (PA) group and waitlist (WL) control group. The PA group will receive a 6-week home-based self-defence training programme consisting of 120 min video training (including daily practice time) per week. Self-report questionnaires will be collected at baseline, immediate post-intervention, and 4-week follow up assessments. The primary outcome measure will be the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 to evaluate depression severity. Secondary outcomes will include psychological health symptoms, sleep quality, lifestyle, and quality of life. This research will provide new perspectives on the application of physical activity in the form of self-defence training as an intervention for depressive individuals.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALPhysical Activity

Physical Activity in the format of Self-defence Training

Sponsors

Chinese University of Hong Kong
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* 18 to 65 years old * Hong Kong Residents * Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) score ≥ 10; and * Willingness to provide informed consent and comply with the trial protocol.

Exclusion criteria

* Patients with any cardiovascular diseases * Receiving psychological treatment or medication for psychiatric disorders * Participated in self defence training in the past 6 months

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 4-week follow-upThe PHQ-9, a 20-item questionnaire used for screening, diagnosing, monitoring and measuring the severity of depression, which scores each of the nine DSM-IV criteria as 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day).

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in the International Physical Activities Questionnaire - Chinese version (IPAQ-C)Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 4-week follow-upParticipants' sitting time, walking time and moderate and vigorous physical activity are assessed by 5 questions from the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Chinese version. Participants' engagement in brief strength and stamina-enhancing activity were assessed by asking the number of days they engaged in physical activity while seated and standing in the last seven days.
Change in the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI)Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 4-week follow-upThe ISI is a 7-item scale designed to evaluate perceived insomnia severity. Ratings on the 5-point Likert scale are obtained on the perceived severity of sleep-onset, sleep-maintenance, early morning awakening problems, satisfaction with current sleep pattern, interference with daily functioning, noticeably of impairment attributed to the sleep problem, and level of distress caused by the sleep problem.
Change in Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-14)Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 4-week follow-upHADS is a 14-item self-rated questionnaire which consists of two 7-item subscales that measure the presence of anxiety and depression symptoms respectively. Each item is rated on a 4-point-scale (0-3) by the participant. The greater the score, the more psychologically distressed the respondent is.
Change in the Short Form (Six-Dimension) Health Survey (SF-6D)Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 4-week follow-upSF-6D is a preference-based single index measure of health. A six-digit number represents each SF-6D health state, each digit denotes the level of one of six SF-6D dimensions: physical functioning, role limitation, social functioning, bodily pain, mental health, and vitality.
Change in Credibility-Expectancy Questionnaire (CEQ)Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 4-week follow-upThe 6-item CEQ yielded ratings of treatment credibility, acceptability/satisfaction, and expectations for success.
Change in Treatment Adherence Survey (TAS)Baseline, immediately post-intervention
Change in Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20)Baseline, immediately post-intervention, 4-week follow-upThe MFI-20 assesses the severity of fatigue covering the following dimensions: general fatigue, physical fatigue, mental fatigue, reduced motivation and reduced activity.

Countries

Hong Kong

Contacts

Primary ContactAngel Lee
angellyy@link.cuhk.edu.hk39436575

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026