Cultivating resiliency in patients with neurofibromatosis 2 who are deafened or have severe hearing loss: a live‑video randomized control trial

Introduction: Patients with NF2 who are deaf or have significant hearing loss face numerous and unique challenges which lead to poor quality of life, and thus may benefit from resiliency programs.

Methods: We performed secondary data analyses on a single blind, randomized controlled trial of an 8 week mind-body resiliency program (the Relaxation Response and Resiliency program for Deaf NF2; d3RP-NF2) versus a health education control (Health Enhancement Program for Deaf NF2;dHEP-NF2) which showed improvement in quality of life (Funes in JAMA 2019, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-019-03182-3). Here we report on improvements in resiliency factors (i.e. optimism, gratitude, perceived social support, mindfulness, and perceived coping abilities) assessed at baseline, post-test and 6-month follow-up. Both programs were delivered via Skype using Communication Access Real-Time Translation.

Results: Patients who were randomized to the d3RP-NF2 program exhibited significant improvements from baseline to post-program in gratitude (M_difference = 4.04, 95% CI 1.58-6.50; p = 0.002), perceived social support (M_difference = 16.36, 95% CI 9.20-23.51; p < 0.001), mindfulness (M_difference = 4.02, 95% CI 1.10-6.94; p = 0.008), perceived coping (M_difference = 15.25, 95% CI 10.21-20.28; p < 0.001), and a non-significant trend of improvement in optimism (M_difference = 1.15, 95% CI -0.14-12.44; p = 0.079). These improvements were all maintained through the 6-month follow up. Improvements in perceived coping (M_difference = 12.34, 95% CI 4.75-19.93; p = 0.002), social support (M_difference = 13.11, 95% CI 2.19-24.03; p = 0.02), and gratitude (M_difference = 4.59, 95% CI 0.83-8.36; p = 0.018) were over and above the changes observed in those randomized to dHEP-NF2.

Conclusion: The d3RP-NF2 sustainably improves multiple dimensions of resiliency. Promoting resiliency may be of utmost importance for this uderserved population.