ClinicalTrials.gg
Not yet recruitingNCT06844084Updated Feb 25, 2025

Biopsychosocial Effects of Gardening Activities

An interventional study of Gardening Activity in Cognition, Anxiety and Depression, sponsored by T.C. ORDU ÜNİVERSİTESİ. Not yet recruiting. Open to participants aged 65 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-02-25.

Primary conditionDepressionRegistry: Anxiety DisordersReclassifiedWhy we changed it
Registry
Anxiety Disorders — the first condition term the registry derived for this study.
ClinicalTrials.gg
Depression
Why
  1. The registry often attaches Anxiety Disorders to studies about something else, and this study's title and listed conditions do not name it.
  2. The study's listed conditions name Depression.
Confidence
High: the new condition is named in the study's own listed conditions. Of 351 hand-checked studies reclassified this way, 68% were exactly right and 84% in the right disease family; the registry's first term was right for 5% (measured 2026-10-21). How we classify →
Wrong?
Tell us the study's main condition →

Sponsored by T.C. ORDU ÜNİVERSİTESİ · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Jul 2025, 1 year 4 months ago, but the record still lists the study as not yet recruiting.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
42
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
65 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Due to the increasing number of elderly population worldwide, elderly care is becoming increasingly important and the number of elderly in institutional care is increasing. In this context, the implementation of easily applicable, cost-effective and accessible physical activity programmes for the elderly in nursing homes is important for the physical, mental and social health of the elderly. Gardening activities are a non-pharmacological intervention that has recently increased in popularity in the elderly and can be easily applied. It is known that gardening activities in the elderly affect some biochemical parameters along with mental health effects and reduce stress, especially by reducing cortisol levels. By providing physical mobility in the elderly with gardening activities, there may be an increase in irisin level and BDNF level, which is an indicator of improvement in cognitive functions, and a decrease in cortisol level, which is an indicator of stress. With the project, the effects of gardening activities on the elderly will be examined comprehensively in a biopsychosocial manner. In this project, the effects of gardening activities on anxiety, depression, life satisfaction, psychological well-being and biochemical parameters will be examined in the elderly living in a nursing home. In the project, gardening activities will be applied to the elderly in the experimental group once a week for 60 minutes for 16 weeks (4 months). With the project, it is aimed to strengthen the elderly biopsychosocially by making them do gardening activities.

Read the detailed description

Improvement of living conditions, development of health services and technology lead to prolonged life expectancy and accordingly, the number of elderly population is gradually increasing. For this reason, elderly care is becoming increasingly important and the number of elderly in institutional care is increasing. The elderly in nursing homes may experience many physical, mental and social problems. The elderly in nursing homes may experience problems such as decreased self-esteem, increased dependency in daily living activities, chronic diseases, fear of death, lack of social support, cognitive deficiencies, anxiety due to environmental and lifestyle changes, depression and lack of life satisfaction. In this context, the implementation of easily applicable, cost-effective and accessible physical activity programmes for the elderly in nursing homes is important for the physical, mental and social health of the elderly. Gardening activities are a non-pharmacological intervention that has recently increased in popularity in the elderly and can be easily applied. Gardening activities positively affect the sense of commitment and success, self-expression, social interaction, sense of responsibility, self-esteem, cognitive skills and creativity in the elderly. It is known that gardening activities in the elderly affect some biochemical parameters along with mental health effects and reduce stress, especially by reducing cortisol levels. By providing physical mobility in the elderly with gardening activities, there may be an increase in irisin level and BDNF level, which is an indicator of improvement in cognitive functions, and a decrease in cortisol level, which is an indicator of stress. In the literature, it is seen that studies examining the effects of gardening activities on the health of the elderly have been carried out, but the studies on this subject in our country are very limited. With the project, for the first time in our country, the effects of gardening activities on the elderly will be examined comprehensively in a biopsychosocial manner. In this project, the effects of gardening activities on anxiety, depression, life satisfaction, psychological well-being and biochemical parameters will be examined in the elderly living in a nursing home. In the project, gardening activities will be applied to the elderly in the experimental group once a week for 60 minutes for 16 weeks (4 months). With the project, it is aimed to strengthen the elderly biopsychosocially by making them do gardening activities.

02

Conditions studied

  • Cognition
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Life Satisfaction
  • Psychological Well Being

Keywords

  • Elderly
  • Gardening Activity
  • Psychological Well Being
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Life Satisfaction
03

In context

Depression Reclassified

8,577 studies on the registry are indexed under Depression; 1,720 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 42 is below the median of 81 across 7,063 interventional studies indexed under Depression.

Browse Depression studies →

Lead sponsor

T.C. ORDU ÜNİVERSİTESİ is the lead sponsor of 87 studies on the registry; 12 are open to participants now.

Compared within Depression, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Anxiety Disorders. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
65 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Elderly people who have been living in a nursing home for at least 6 months,
  • Elderly people with a mini mental test score of 24 and above,
  • Elderly people who do not have vision or hearing loss that may prevent gardening activities,
  • Elderly people who are open to communication and cooperation and who volunteer to participate in the study will be included in the study.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Elderly people with physical (such as stroke, Parkinson's) and psychiatric diseases (such as mental retardation) that may prevent gardening activities,
  • Elderly people with chronic diseases in the exacerbation process (heart failure, chronic renal failure, etc.) will be excluded from the study.
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Participant, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
42 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Experimental Group

    In the project, gardening activities will be applied to the participants in the experimental group once a week for 60 minutes for 16 weeks (4 months) in a nursing home and greenhouse. In the project, the elderly will be informed about gardening activities in the nursing home. The applications will be carried out in the greenhouse.

    Other: Gardening Activity

  • No intervention
    Control Group

    Participants in the control group will not receive any intervention during the study. They will participate in routine activities in the nursing home (crafts such as philography, relief, knitting, and folk dances and bocce games in the atelier). After the final tests are administered in the study, participants in the control group will be engaged in gardening activities for 60 minutes once a week for 4 weeks (1 month) (this period was determined by taking the project duration into account).

Interventions

  • OtherGardening Activity

    In the project, gardening activities will be applied to the participants in the experimental group in the nursing home and greenhouse for 16 weeks (4 months), once a week for 60 minutes. During the implementation phase of horticulture activities, information meetings will be held in the meeting room of the nursing home in one group. In addition, 20 minutes break will be given during the activity in terms of the tolerance of the elderly to gardening activities.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Geriatric Anxiety Inverntory

    The scale developed by Pachana et al. (2007) was adapted to Turkish by Pamir Akın (2010). The Geriatric Anxiety Inventory aims to measure anxiety symptoms in the elderly in a dimensional manner. The cut-off point of the scale for generalized anxiety disorder was determined as 10/11. Accordingly, the scale was organized as "anxiety symptoms and generalized anxiety disorder \> 10; only anxiety symptoms \< 10". There are no reverse-coded items in the scale, which consists of 20 items and is scored on two dimensions as "agree" and "disagree". Accordingly, 1 point is given for the "agree" option and 0 points for the "disagree" option. Therefore, the scores obtained from the scale can vary between 0 and 20. Cronbach's α for the normal elderly sample was found to be 0.91, and Cronbach's α for the psychogeriatric sample was found to be 0.93.

    Time frame: At the beginning of the study and end of 16 weeks treatment

  2. Geriatric Depression Scale

    The scale developed by Yesavage et al. (1993) is based on self-reporting. The short form of the GDS consisting of 15 questions will be used in this study. The Turkish validity and reliability study of the scale was conducted by Ertan et al. (1997). 5 questions (1, 5, 7, 11 and 13) in the scale were designed positively, the others were designed negatively. In the evaluation of the scale, "no" answers to positive questions and "yes" answers to negative questions were matched with 1 point. The scores that can be obtained from the scale are between 0-15. A score above five is considered depression. The Cronbach alpha value of the scale is 0.92.

    Time frame: At the beginning of the study and end of 16 weeks treatment

  3. Life Satisfaction in the Elderly Scale

    The scale was developed by Altay and Çalmaz (2022) and consists of a total of 14 items and 3 sub-dimensions. The scale was prepared as a Likert-type, five-point scale (1= Strongly disagree, 2= Disagree, 3= Neither agree nor disagree, 4= Agree, 5= Strongly agree). The score that can be obtained from ELS varies between 14 and 70. A high score indicates that the individual has high life satisfaction. ELS contains a three-factor structure. Self-acceptance (Factor 1) of the sub-dimensions of the scale includes items 5, 6, 8, 9, 16, 21, 25, 27, 28, Motivation (Factor 2) includes items 11 and 13, and Peace (Factor 3) includes items 10, 12, and 14. Sub-dimension scores are calculated by adding the scores of the items in each sub-dimension and dividing them by the number of items. Each sub-dimension is scored between '1' and '5'. The self-acceptance sub-dimension score range is minimum - maximum 9-45, the motivation sub-dimension score range is minimum - m

    Time frame: At the beginning of the study and end of 16 weeks treatment

  4. Psychological Well-Being Scale for Older People

    It was developed by Gümüş Demir (2022) to measure happiness and well-being in elderly individuals, and has a 15-item and single-factor structure. Items 8 and 13 are reverse coded. The single-factor structure of the scale was tested in a different sample group with the CFA method and the result that the structure was confirmed was obtained. The scale was found to be a valid and reliable measurement tool for measuring psychological well-being in the elderly. The Cronbach alpha internal consistency coefficient of the scale was found to be 0.89.

    Time frame: At the beginning of the study and end of 16 weeks treatment

07

Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Start is estimated for Mar 2025; primary completion for Jul 2025, 3 months later.

Of 3,468 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Depression, half reached primary completion within 21 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 10 and three quarters within 41. This study's planned 3 months is below that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 3,566 studies reached it within 21 months; a quarter within 9 and three quarters within 41.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Feb 19, 2025
First posted
Feb 25, 2025
StartEst.
Mar 3, 2025
Primary completionEst.
Jul 1, 2025
CompletionEst.
Aug 1, 2025
Last update
Feb 25, 2025
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Feb 25, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06844084
Lead sponsor
T.C. ORDU ÜNİVERSİTESİ
Responsible party
Hacer Gok Ugur (Asos.Prof., T.C. ORDU ÜNİVERSİTESİ) — Principal investigator
First posted
Feb 25, 2025
Start date
Mar 3, 2025 (estimated)
Primary completion
Jul 1, 2025 (estimated)
Completion
Aug 1, 2025 (estimated)
Last update
Feb 25, 2025

Study contacts

Hacer Gök Uğur, Asos. Prof.
Contact
hacer32@gmail.com
+90 452 2265200 ext. 6432

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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