Human Outreach to Improve Adherence With Scheduled Pain Clinic Appointments

March 29, 2017 updated by: Michael Andreae, Montefiore Medical Center

Targeted Intervention (a Telephone Call in the Dominant Language) to Increase Attendance at Scheduled Appointment in an Inner City Academic Pain Clinic

Patients tend to miss their scheduled appointments in chronic pain clinics for unknown reasons. This study will test the hypothesis in a prospective pragmatic trial that a human telephone call in the primary language of the patient, promising a clinical encounter in this language improves attendance at scheduled appointments in an academic inner city pain clinic.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Language barriers may lead to poor attendance at pain clinic appointments, especially in underserved patients. Targeted interventions can help overcome barriers and significantly improve adherence, but have rarely been rigorously investigated in randomized clinical trials. Our objective is to investigate if (1) making a telephone call in the patient's preferred language increases adherance with scheduled appointment in an inner city academic pain clinic or at least reduces failure to attend without a prior cancellation call and (2) if this intervention is more effective in Spanish speakers.

After institutional review board approval and waiver of informed consent, we enroll all adult patients (18 years and up) with a scheduled first appointment at our outpatient Pain Center at Montefiore Medical Center located in the Bronx, New York from October 2014 through October 2015. Participants are randomized to receive a phone call in their preferred language before their appointment, or not. We recorded if participants attended as scheduled and/or called to cancel. We fit stratified and multivariate multinomial logistic regression models.

In a methodologically rigorous randomized design, we seek to demonstrate that a human phone call in the patient's primary language increases adherence with scheduled appointments in an ethnically diverse, poor population, typical for an inner city pain clinic. Our targeted intervention may provide considerable cost savings to the institution while bolstering the patient-doctor relationship and overcoming barriers to access much needed care.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

1022

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

    • New York
      • Bronx, New York, United States, 10467
        • Montefiore Medical Center

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

Individuals who are 18 years of age and older that has a scheduled appointment at Montefiore Medical Center.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 18 years of age or older
  • have scheduled appointment at Montefiore Medical Center

Exclusion Criteria:

  • None

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

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Patient attendance at scheduled pain clinic appointment
Time Frame: 1day
patient attends a scheduled appointment at a chronic pain clinic the day after the call or not, as ascertained from the clinic attendance sheet
1day

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

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

August 1, 2014

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 29, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 29, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

April 5, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 5, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 29, 2017

Last Verified

March 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2014-3683

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

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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