A single-centre prospective randomised controlled trial will be conducted with a minimum of 47 patients with severe mental disorder (SMD) who will be randomly assigned into two groups, 1 intervention group receiving dance therapy (n=26) and 1 control group who will not receive any intervention or added treatment apart from continuing with their usual treatment (pharmacological), but will not receive intervention with dance therapy (n=21). In summary, the groups are: * Experimental group (n=26): people with SMD receiving dance therapy. * Control group (n=21): people with SMD who do not receive the dance therapy intervention but do receive their usual pharmacological treatment. Tests will be administered before the start of the study and at the end of the study, as well as 3 months after the end of the study in order to compare the results between groups.
All the tests (BASC, MoCA, PANSS and EEG) will be carried out with the 47 patients with SMD to find out their baseline status. The people with SMD will be randomly assigned to an experimental group (dance therapy program) or a control group (without intervention in dance therapy but with regular pharmacological treatment). The study will last approximately 1 year between the administration of tests, the program and the analysis of results. The dance therapy program will last 20 sessions over 10 weeks. The sessions will take place at the headquarters of the Canarian Association of Creative Therapies (ASCATEC) in the 21st century space in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The 26 people with SMD in the experimental group will participate in a 10-week intervention program with 2 sessions per week in which they will work for 1 hour on memory, attention and executive functions through dance and movement, ending with 10 minutes of Mindfulness. The 21 people in the control group will not receive any type of dance therapy intervention, but will continue with their usual pharmacological treatment. The effects will be measured after a treatment of 20 sessions (twice a week). Results will be obtained by analysing EEG parameters (EEG amplitude and frequency) and cognitive functions (BACS and MoCA). On the other hand, at the end of the 20-session programme, tests will also be administered to assess the symptomatology of the severe mental disorder suffered by the person (PANSS) to assess the effects of the program on these variables.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
47
A single-centre prospective randomised controlled trial will be conducted with a minimum of 48 patients with severe mental disorder (SMD) who will be randomised into two groups, 1 intervention group receiving dance therapy (n=24) and 1 control group receiving no intervention or treatment (n=24). In addition, there will be an intervention group of healthy people who will receive dance therapy (n=20). All the tests, will be carried out with patients with SMD and only the EEG for healthy people, in order to determine their baseline state. The dance therapy program will last for 20 sessions over 10 weeks. The 44 people in the two experimental groups will participate in a 10-week intervention program with 2 sessions per week in which they will work for 1 hour on memory, attention and executive functions through dance and movement, ending with 10 minutes of Mindfulness. The 24 people in the control group will not receive any type of intervention.
ASCATEC
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS)
It is used to quantify cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. BACS includes assessments of verbal memory, working memory (Digit Span), motor speed (Motor Token), verbal fluency, attention and processing speed (Symbol Encoding) and executive function (Tower of London). Each item assessed has its own specific score. These scores are used to assess performance on each of the BACS subtests. Subsequently, a composite score is usually calculated that summarises the individual's overall cognitive performance.
Time frame: At baseline, up to 10 weeks of dance therapy program and 3 months after the end of the program.
Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)
30-question test to assess mild cognitive dysfunction by assessing executive function and visuospatial ability, identification, short-term memory, delayed recall, attention, language, abstraction, animal naming and orientation. Scores range from 0 to 30 and the cut-off point value for a normal score is \>26 points. The test is administered in about 10-12 minutes.
Time frame: At baseline, up to 10 weeks of dance therapy program and 3 months after the end of the program.
Electroencephalogram (EEG)
The brain wave signals shall be recorded by a 14-channel electroencephalogram, whose electrodes (salt sensors) are arranged at positions A F 3, F7, F3, F C 5, T7, P7, O1, O2, P8, T8, F C 6, F4, F8 and A F 4, according to the international 10-20 system. The device also has 2 reference points at positions P3 and P4.
Time frame: At baseline, up to 10 weeks of dance therapy program and 3 months after the end of the program.
Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS)
It monitors the progress of symptoms in severe mental disorders by means of 30 items that are grouped into three main dimensions: positive symptoms, negative symptoms and general symptoms. Each item is scored from 0 (no symptoms) to 7 (extreme severity) points.
Time frame: At baseline, up to 10 weeks of dance therapy program and 3 months after the end of the program.
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