NCT05007600

Online Interactive Courses on Loneliness and Quality of Life of Older Adults

Investigating the Effectiveness of Online Interactive Courses on Loneliness and Quality of Life of Older Adults in the Community During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Study and a Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 89 (actual)
• Sponsor: Yang Shang-Yu · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 65 Years – 88 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Background: The early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic can be marked as a critical period in human history as it increased loneliness in people's lives. This is particularly true for the older adults who are single, living alone, and suffering from chronic diseases. However, there is insufficient existing research on associated interventions and their effectiveness. Objectives: To investigate the effectiveness of an 8-week online interactive course on the loneliness, depression, social support, and quality of life (QOL) of older adults in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This pilot study, also a single-blind randomized controlled trial, collected data from a community in central Taiwan. Participants were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group. Subsequently, participants in the experimental group received an 8-week intensive (Monday to Friday) online interactive course, whereas those in the control group consumed 8 weeks of unidirectional online video and audio programs (such as from YouTube). Assessments were conducted both before and after the intervention, with the primary outcome being the UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLA), and secondary outcomes being the Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form, the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behavior (ISSB) Scale, and the WHO Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) Scale.

Conditions

• Older Adults

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Online Interactive Courses	In the experimental group, after consensus was reached in the expert meeting (consisting of a doctor specializing in occupational therapy, a doctor specializing in nursing, and a doctor specializing in public health), a 5-days-per-week (Monday to Friday) 8-week intensive online interactive course was designed. The course was made accessible to the participants through a social network app (Line) from 12:00 to 20:30.

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-02-01
• Primary completion: 2021-07-01
• Completion: 2021-07-30
• First posted: 2021-08-16
• Last updated: 2021-08-16

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Taiwan