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Graded Exposure and Mindfulness Meditation for Patients Post-ACL Reconstruction

The GEMM Trial: Graded Exposure and Mindfulness Meditation for Patients Post- ACL Reconstruction

Status
Recruiting
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05949177
Enrollment
50
Registered
2023-07-17
Start date
2024-10-30
Completion date
2026-07-31
Last updated
2025-11-13

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

Conditions

Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries

Keywords

Rehabilitation

Brief summary

To evaluate the effect of graded exposure and mindfulness meditation after ACLR, the investigators will determine the effect of graded exposure and mindfulness meditation to 1) decrease self-reported injury-related fear and reinjury anxiety, and 2) improve lower extremity reaction time when compared to a waitlist control group.

Detailed description

Injury-related fear after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) is associated with secondary ACL injury and slower reaction time. Graded exposure (GE) and mindfulness meditation (MM) have reduced injury-related fear, but has not been explored together in patients post-ACLR. GE and MM delivered via the Headspace application is feasible for individuals post-ACLR. GEMM allows athletic trainers' to easily implement MM into their practice. The aim of this randomized single-blinded clinical trial is to determine the efficacy of 5-weeks of GEMM to decrease injury-related fear and reinjury anxiety and improve reaction time in participants 6 months to 10-years post-ACLR. Participants will be randomized into a GEMM group or waitlist control group. Participants will complete the Photographic Series of Sports Activities for ACLR, Reinjury Anxiety Inventory, the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia-11 and a lower extremity reaction time task pre and post the 5-week period. The investigators hypothesize that participants in the GEMM group will exhibit decreased injury-related fear and reinjury anxiety and faster reaction time when compared to the waitlist controls.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALGraded Exposure and Mindfulness Meditation

Participants will complete graded exposure and will be encouraged to face fear-eliciting situations. Participants will also complete mindfulness meditation guided through the Headspace mobile application. Participants will complete the graded exposure one time per week and will complete the mindfulness meditation 4 times per week.

BEHAVIORALWaitlist Control

Participants will receive an email stating that they will receive access to 5-weeks of Headspace after 5-weeks. Participants will be also asked to not change their normal routines or download apps for relaxation, meditation, or sleep during 5-weeks. After completion of the outcome assessments at 5-weeks, participants in this group will receive access to 5-weeks of Headspace.

Sponsors

National Athletic Trainers' Association Research & Education Foundation (NATA Foundation)
CollaboratorOTHER
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
14 Years to 35 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Ages 14-35 years * Have self-reported levels of fear on the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia-11 and the Photographic Series of Sports Activities for ACLR * Injured their knee playing or training for sports (recreational or organized) * Have a history of unilateral ACLR * 6 months to 10-years post-ACLR

Exclusion criteria

* History of secondary ACL injury * Do not exhibit elevated injury-related fear * Concomitant surgeries at the time of ACL reconstruction

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in Task Specific FearsCollected at baseline and post-treatment after completion of the intervention or waitlist control at week 5The Photographic Series of Sports Activities for ACLR is a patient-reported outcome designed to measure fear of harm of specific tasks through photographical assessment. Patients will be instructed to rate each photograph of sports activities on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 representing not harmful at all and 10 representing extremely harmful.
Change in Overall Injury-Related FearCollected at baseline and post-treatment after completion of the intervention or waitlist control at week 5The Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia-11 is a valid and reliable questionnaire that consists of 11-items and evaluates fear of movement and re-injury. A 4-point Likert scale is used to score each item. Scores range from 11-44 with higher scores representing higher kinesiophobia. AIM 1: Determine the efficacy of GEMM compared to a waitlist control group to decrease injury-related fear and reinjury anxiety in participants with a history of ACLR 1-5 years post-reconstruction.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in Reinjury AnxietyCollected at baseline and post-treatment after completion of the intervention or waitlist control at week 5The reinjury anxiety inventory (RIAI) is a valid and reliable 28-item questionnaire of reinjury anxiety which consists of two subscales, rehabilitation reinjury anxiety and reentry into competition reinjury anxiety. A 4-point Likert scale is used to score each item. The RIAI is scored by computing a separate score for the two subscales and adding these scores together for an overall total score. Total score ranges from 0-84 with higher scores representing higher reinjury anxiety
Change in Lower Extremity Reaction TimeCollected at baseline and post-treatment after completion of the intervention or waitlist control at week 5Participants will complete a standardized and novel lower extremity reaction time assessment using the FitLight Trainer. Participants will be instructed to respond to a visual stimulus and deactivate a series of 5 targets arranged in a semicircle with their feet. The protocol will last for 1 minute and completed bilaterally. Test limb order will be counterbalanced between participants. Participants will complete 3 familiarization trials and 1 test trial per limb (ms).

Countries

United States

Contacts

Primary ContactShelby E Baez, Ph.D., ATC
sbaez@unc.edu919-445-1500

Outcome results

None listed

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