A new clinical study shows how the internet may provide opportunities for therapy. The study’s results detail how an online program called Elevida reduces fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis. Keep reading to learn more, or visit the original source for additional details on this story.
Elevida is an online , interactive program based around psychotherapy. Recent findings support the idea that it is able to reduce fatigue in people suffering from multiple sclerosis. Researchers investigated the program, created by GAIA, in a study called “Randomised controlled trial of a self-guided online fatigue intervention in multiple sclerosis.” The Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, & Psychiatry published the study and it can be found here.
Researchers concluded that Elevida “may be a suitable low barrier, cost-effective treatment option for MS fatigue.”
A diverse and talented team including physicians, psychologists, psychotherapists, and IT experts developed the software behind Elevida. The content powering Elevida relies upon principals of cognitive behavioral therapy, and psychotherapeutic concepts. Mindfulness is a major component. Patients also rely upon their own agency to navigate the narrative text of the program by answering multiple-choice questions.
Elevida functions in many ways like a guided therapy session. It tailors its pace based on the responses patients give and matches its progress to the patient’s needs. The program comes with a recommendation to use it once or twice per week.
During the clinical study, 275 patients with multiple sclerosis and fatigue participated. Randomly, researchers assigned patients to either receive standard care, or perform home-based therapy with Elevida. The study spanned a 12 week period for both groups.
Researchers reported a significant reduction of fatigue in the treatment group. Compared to the control group, researchers reported a mean difference of 2.74 points on the commonly used Chalder scale.
Throughout a 24-week-follow-up, patients using Elevida continued to maintain this improvement. Motor fatigue, cognitive fatigue, and anxiety were all reduced. Use of Elevida also seemed to improve a patient’s quality of life. Patients showed a greater capacity for dealing with fatigue, and for accomplishing every day tasks than patients receiving traditional medications.
Elevida’s creators, GAIA, also announced one of their other programs was accepted into the health care system of the United Arab Emirates. This program, known as deprexis MS, attempts to assist in the management of multiple sclerosis related depression. An ongoing clinical study examines this program in both the United States and Germany.
“GAIA understands the vast unmet medical needs in the MS community and we are dedicated to developing strong innovative solutions based on rigorous scientific evidence,” said Mario Weiss, MD, CEO and founder of GAIA. “We believe Elevida can also help mitigate the suffering of many and improve health outcomes.”
