NCT00118885

Shingles: Immune Effects of Tai Chi

Behavioral Intervention for Herpes Zoster Risk in Aging

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 2
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 140 (planned)
• Sponsor: National Institute on Aging (NIA) · NIH
• Sex: All
• Age: 60 Years – 90 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this trial is to evaluate the effects of Tai Chi Chih versus Health Education on shingles immunity in older adults as measured by unstimulated and vaccine-stimulated responses. The secondary goal of the study is to determine the effects of Tai Chi Chih versus Health Education on measures of health functioning, depressive symptoms, and health behaviors in the elderly.

Detailed description

Shingles, also known as herpes zoster (HZ), is more common in older persons due to the weakening of the immune system with advancing age. Psychosocial stresses in the older adult also correlate with the decline in immunity. In addition, preliminary data indicate that the presence of depressive symptoms in older adults is associated with a decline in the response to varicella zoster virus (VZV) vaccination. Taken together, the untoward effects of age and depressive symptoms on VZV immunity raise the question as to whether a behavioral intervention might augment VZV specific immunity in the older adult. Preliminary data has shown that administration of a relaxation-response based intervention, Tai Chi Chih (TCC), results in improvements in health functioning and VZV immunity in older adults as compared to a control group. TCC is a slow moving meditation comprised of twenty separate standardized movements for use in elderly populations. By standardization of training and practice schedules, TCC offers an important advantage over prior relaxation response based therapies. This controlled trial has 3 goals: 1. determine whether the practice of TCC for 16 weeks influences unstimulated- and vaccine-stimulated VZV specific immunity in adults 60 years of age and older; 2. demonstrate that TCC can produce significant changes in psychological adaptation, health behaviors, and health functioning and well-being; 3. assess whether changes in psychological adaptation, health behaviors, and health functioning correlate with changes in VZV immunity following TCC in older adults.

Conditions

• Aging
• Herpes Zoster

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Tai Chi Chih

Timeline

• Start date: 2001-07-01
• Primary completion: 2004-12-01
• Completion: 2004-12-01
• First posted: 2005-07-12
• Last updated: 2009-12-11

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States