Family Quality of Life Among Families With a Member Who is a Cancer Patient

September 7, 2012 updated by: Barbara Murphy, MD, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

Assessment of Family Quality of Life Among Families With a Member Who is a Cancer Patient

RATIONALE: Developing a questionnaire that can be used to assess the quality of life among people who have a family member with cancer may help the study of cancer in the future.

PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying quality of life among families with a member who is a cancer patient.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

OBJECTIVES:

  • Develop and conduct preliminary validation of a Family Quality of Life Questionnaire for use with families with an adult cancer patient, with the measure appropriate for use for both research and clinical assessment purposes.
  • Generate an initial item pool for the measure (step 1).
  • Reduce the item pool based on a content validity assessment (step 2).
  • Assess the psychometric properties and dimensionality of the measure (step 3).

OUTLINE:

  • Step 1 (item generation): Items are generated through a literature review and a semi-structured interview with patients and their families. The purposes of the interview are to determine whether the five domains identified in the literature review (family interaction, family roles, family communication, family emotional support, overall family quality of life [FQOL]) are central areas of FQOL, and to determine if there are other important FQOL domains affected by cancer and its treatment. Patients and their family members are interviewed individually over 45-60 minutes. The initial item pool is generated based on the literature review and interviews.
  • Step 2 (item review and reduction): The initial item pool is examined and reduced based on its content validity. Ten health care providers with a minimum of five years experience working with cancer patients rate the content validity of the proposed questionnaire. Experts receive a packet of questionnaires, including the objective of the study, the proposed questionnaire as developed in step 1, and the proposed questionnaire with its format modified for the examination of content validity. The content validity version uses a 4-point Likert format to assess each item's relevance, sufficiency (i.e., the extent to which it fully covers its intended domain) and clarity in relation to the construct (FQOL domain) that it is supposed to assess. Experts are asked to rate the overall format of the questionnaire in regards to ease of use and appropriateness, and for open-ended comments or suggestions. Items are modified or dropped based on the experts' review.
  • Step 3 (final item selection and psychometric evaluation): Patients and family members complete the FQOL questionnaire developed in previous steps and other questionnaires with proven reliability and validity at baseline. Other questionnaires include the SF-36 (general QOL survey that is used widely in general population samples and patients, including cancer patients), the FACT-G for patients (instrument used to assess health-related QOL in cancer patients), with the version of the FACT-G modified by Northouse for the family member, the Family Interaction and Emotional Well-Being subscales (to examine family interaction and family emotional support of cancer families) of the Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale (FQOL measure for families with a disabled child), the Balanced Cohesion subscale (to examine family interaction of cancer families) of the FACES IV (that assesses balanced and unbalanced family cohesion and family flexibility in general population), and the Family Communication Scale (a general survey used to assess family communication in the general population). Patients and family members complete the FQOL again 2 weeks after the initial assessment.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: Approximately 210 cancer patients and 210 family members will be accrued for this study.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
366

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Tennessee
      • Nashville, Tennessee, United States, 37232-6838
        • Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center
      • Nashville, Tennessee, United States, 37064
        • Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center - Cool Springs
      • Nashville, Tennessee, United States, 37064
        • Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center at Franklin

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

21 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

Family members of a patient with cancer

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients diagnosed with any local, advanced, or metastatic cancer that has required more than a simple surgical procedure

    • Ten families with an adult patient with breast, prostate, lung, colon, or head and neck cancer are interviewed for step 1 portion of the study

  • An available adult family member willing to participate in the study

    • The term family is defined broadly to include adults over 21 years of age, considered by the cancer patient as a family member, who provides care or support and/or shares the cancer experience with the patient
    • Family members do not need to be biologically related to the patient or related through marriage, and may or may not live in the same house with the patient

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Able to read, write, and speak English

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

  • See Disease Characteristics

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Supportive
Other: questionnaire administration
no intervention
Other: survey administration
no intervention
Procedure: quality-of-life assessment
no intervention

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Preliminary validation of a family quality of life questionnaire
Time Frame: Off study date
Off study date
Generation of an initial item pool (step 1)
Time Frame: Off study date
Off study date
Reduction of the item pool based on content validity assessment (step 2)
Time Frame: Off study date
Off study date
Psychometric properties and dimensionality of the measure (step 3)
Time Frame: Off study date
Off study date

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Barbara Murphy, MD, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
August 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
February 1, 2009

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
May 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
October 13, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
October 13, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
October 16, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
September 10, 2012

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 7, 2012

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
September 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • VICC SUPP 0737
  • VU-VICC-SUPP-0737
  • VU-VICC-IRB-IRB-070598

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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