Partners Connected Health today opened recruitment for a novel study, STRESSLESS, to evaluate the effectiveness of Muse and Spire, two personal health devices, on stress management.
Study participants to include individuals attending the Partners Connected Health Symposium who meet eligibility criteria.
Partners Connected Health today opened recruitment for a novel study, STRESSLESS, to evaluate the effectiveness of Muse and Spire, two personal health devices, on stress management.
The study is open to individuals registered to attend the Partners Connected Health Symposium (October 20-21 in Boston).
“Stress is a major contributor to several chronic conditions, and is associated with unhealthy behaviors, resulting in high costs on our healthcare system. Yet, there are large gaps in how stress is managed by the medical community,” said Joseph C. Kvedar, MD, Vice President, Connected Health at Partners HealthCare. “For the first time, we are opening this study to our Connected Health Symposium participants, giving them first-hand perspective of how we conduct clinical research, its impact and, importantly, the role of study participants. We’re excited to create such a unique opportunity and generate much-needed data on stress management.”
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Study participants will complete all study procedures — including content, eligibility screening and the enrollment questionnaire — using the Compass mobile application developed by Partners Connected Health for online secure data collection.
A total of 126 participants will be enrolled in this nine-week randomized controlled study. Both groups will receive a Spire device; the second group will also receive a Muse device. During the two-week baseline period, the Spire user feedback will be turned off. During the six week intervention period, the first group will activate the user feedback tool; the second group will keep the Spire user feedback off and begin using the Muse device.
“The primary aim of STRESSLESS is to assess the effects of Muse and Spire on stress levels, and evaluate a dose-response effect on using these devices for stress reduction, quality of life, stress resilience and usability and satisfaction with both devices,” added Kamal Jethwani, MD, MPH, Senior Director, Connected Health Innovation at Partners HealthCare. “Given the high prevalence of stress in today’s society, this study may generate important data for future research to improve clinical outcomes.”
Muse and Spire are recent technologies that could improve understanding of stress management and enhance quality of healthcare. Spire is a discrete clip-on tracker that monitors changes in respiration rate; the companion app alerts the user and displays erratic breathing rates on a smart phone in real-time. Muse is a headset device that uses EEG (electroencephalogram) sensors to measure electric brain frequencies, and guides the user in a form of simplified meditation by giving feedback in real time (i.e. calm, neutral, active) and audio clues to improve concentration. The STRESSLESS study is being supported by Muse and Spire.
To learn more about the study or to enroll, please visit Partners Connected Health.
Partners Connected Health
Partners Connected Health is leveraging information technology – mobile phones, tablets, wearables, sensors and remote health monitoring tools – to deliver quality patient care outside of traditional medical settings. Partners Connected Health programs are also helping providers and patients better manage chronic conditions, maintain health and wellness and improve adherence, engagement and clinical outcomes. The Connected Health team creates and deploys mobile technologies in a number of patient populations and care settings, and is conducting innovative clinical studies to test the effectiveness of mobile health technologies in various clinical applications, including medication adherence, care coordination, chronic disease management, prevention and wellness. Please visit www.partners.org/connectedhealth.
Partners HealthCare
Partners HealthCare is an integrated health system founded by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. In addition to its two academic medical centers, the Partners system includes community and specialty hospitals, a managed care organization, community health centers, a physician network, home health and long-term care services, and other health care entities. Partners HealthCare is committed to patient care, research, teaching, and service to the community. Partners is one of the nation’s leading biomedical research organizations and a principal teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Partners HealthCare is a non-profit organization. Please visit www.partners.org.
Source: Partners Connected Health
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