The Experience of Uncertainty in Parents of Children With an Undiagnosed Medical Condition

June 30, 2017 updated by: National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)

Background:

  • Rare and undiagnosed conditions are often chronic and disabling, with symptoms affecting different organ systems at various levels of severity. Perhaps the most challenging feature of an undiagnosed medical condition that has lasted 2 or more years is its characteristic uncertainty. In the absence of a diagnosis, health care professionals can provide only limited treatment and prognostic information.
  • In the case of a child with an undiagnosed condition, the uncertainty that accompanies what is often a chronic, debilitating medical condition and an undefined prognosis may have physical, psychological, social, and spiritual implications for the entire family. Research suggests that parents of a child with an undiagnosed medical condition may be at significantly increased risk of anxiety, depression, poor health, and overall lower quality of life.
  • It is not well understood how individuals cope with and adapt to chronic uncertainty, and the factors that influence this process. To design future interventions, descriptive studies are needed to reveal predictors that can be manipulated to improve outcomes.

Objectives:

  • To examine whether perceptions of uncertainty, and perceived personal control, are associated with coping and adaptation.
  • To examine how the length of time elapsed since child was identified as sick and perceptions of uncertainty affect coping and adaptation.
  • To assess how perceptions of uncertainty, time elapsed since child became sick, optimism, and perceived personal control affect coping and adaptation.

Eligibility:

  • Parents (older than 18 years of age) of children who have an undiagnosed medical condition.
  • Participants must have a working e-mail address or fixed postal address.

Design:

  • Parents will be recruited from Web-based support networks for parents of undiagnosed children through Web site postings, electronic mailing lists, and printed newsletter postings.
  • Participants will be asked to complete a questionnaire about their experiences in living with a child who has an undiagnosed but chronic medical condition. The main outcome variable is adaptation to living with one's child's undiagnosed medical condition.
  • Participants have the option to complete an online or paper version of the questionnaire. The questionnaire should take between 20 and 30 minutes to complete.
  • No medical treatments are specifically offered as a part of this study.

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.

Detailed Description

This study aims to understand the impact on parents of having a child with an undiagnosed medical condition and the factors that contribute to their adaptation. Rare and undiagnosed conditions are often chronic and disabling, with symptoms affecting different organ systems at various levels of severity. Perhaps the most challenging feature of an undiagnosed medical condition that has lasted two or more years, however, is its characteristic uncertainty. In the absence of a diagnosis, health care professionals can provide only limited treatment and prognostic information. It is not well understood how individuals cope with and adapt to chronic uncertainty, and the factors that influence this process. To design future interventions, descriptive studies are needed to reveal predictors that can be manipulated to improve outcomes. In this study, Lazarus and Folkman's Transactional Model of Stress and Coping provides a framework to examine coping and adaptation in the parents of children who have had a chronic, undiagnosed medical condition for two or more years. A cross-sectional research design using a mixed methods survey will be used to examine the relationships among appraisals (perceptions of uncertainty and perceived personal control), time elapsed since parents first realized their child was sick, coping and adaptation. Parents will be recruited from web-based support networks for parents of undiagnosed children via website postings, email listservs and printed newsletter postings. Participants will have the option to complete an online or paper version of the questionnaire. The main outcome variable is adaptation to living with one's child's undiagnosed medical condition.

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 (Anticipated)

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.
500

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
    • Maryland
      • Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
        • National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), 9000 Rockville Pike

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

18 years to 100 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

  • INCLUSION CRITERIA:
  • Men and women 18 years or older
  • Biological or adoptive parent
  • At least one child of participants has a medical problem or problems that have remained undiagnosed for > 2 years
  • The child with an undiagnosed medical problem must reside with the parent
  • Read and write in English

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

-One parent/household may participate

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

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.
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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 4, 2009

Study Completion

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.
April 10, 2012

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).
August 7, 2009

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.
August 7, 2009

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.
August 10, 2009

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

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.
July 2, 2017

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.
June 30, 2017

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.
April 10, 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.
  • 999909206
  • 09-HG-N206

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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