Mixed Methods Study Web-based Life Support Decision Aid (eLSDA)

October 26, 2018 updated by: Anh Pham, University of Saskatchewan

Development of an Individualized, Web-Based Life Support Decision Aid (eLSDA) Concerning Goals of Care for the Seriously Ill Patient

Patients and families want to be involved in healthcare decisions. When the decision-making process does not engage older patients and their families, the care provided does not match patient preferences or meet their needs. Healthcare teams can collaborate to support patients and families facing difficult healthcare decisions, such as decisions about the use of technology used to keep a person alive when they are critically ill. Tools called patient decision aids are used in many health care settings to help patients and families understand their options and figure out the benefits and harms of a treatment to decide what is right for them. The healthcare team can make sure that patients understand the information provided, give them opportunities to ask questions, and help them talk more about the decision with others. This research study is trialing a web based patient decision aid class of intervention. It is anticipated that 120 hospitalized, seriously ill, older adult patients/ families and their healthcare professionals will be recruited. The study will determine if the intervention can improve dialogue about whether life sustaining technology for seriously ill older patients. The findings will contribute to what is already known about overcoming challenges to involving patients and families with a goal of keeping patients and families at the centre of decisions about their health.

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

A concurrent mixed method study of a life support decision aid (eLSDA) intends to prepare hospitalized, seriously ill older adult patients and their families to participate in shared decision-making. The study includes 1) randomized controlled trial and 2) a qualitative (naturalistic observation) study. The experimental study compares a convenience cohort of participants who receive usual care (n=60 patients or patient/surrogate pairs) to a cohort of participants who receive the intervention (n=60 patients or patient/surrogate pairs). The investigators intend to measure a) knowledge of life-sustaining technologies, b) clarity of values, c) congruence between documented physician's orders and patient choice, d) decisional conflict, and e) quality of communication. For the intervention group only, investigators will measure comprehensibility and acceptability of the eLSDA. The observational qualitative study derived from naturalistic observation will involve participant observation to examine dialogue about life support between hospitalized, seriously ill older adult patients, families and their healthcare professionals. Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected to better understand the comprehensibility, acceptability, usability, feasibility and impact of the eLSDA used in routine clinical practice.

Questionnaires, patient/family/physician discussions and web based tool viewing will be completed in a hospital setting. The investigator will administer pre-intervention questionnaires to the participants, which will take approximately 15 minutes. Participants will then be randomized to groups, and be invited to use the web based eLSDA or usual care materials on a laptop computer or tablet (30 minutes). This will be followed by post-intervention questionnaires in a second interview (15 minutes). Physicians and nurses/social workers will be asked to complete a survey to examine the barriers to discussions about goals of care (15 minutes). The investigator will also fill out the chart abstraction tool after the participants give consent.

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.
Interventional

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.
120

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

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

  • Canada
    • Saskatchewan
      • Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, S7N 0W8
        • Royal University Hospital

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

55 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Potential users of eLSDA, which are those who are hospitalized, seriously ill, older patients, their families, and their health care providers.

  • Age 55 + with one or more of the following diseases:

    1. Chronic obstructive lung disease
    2. Congestive heart failure
    3. Cirrhosis
    4. Cancer
    5. End-stage dementia
    6. Renal failure
  • Any patient 70 + admitted to the hospital from the community because of an acute medical or surgical condition.
  • Any patient 55 - 69 years of age admitted to the hospital, who has high likelihood of death in the next 6 months, in the opinion of the treating physician.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • People who are not hospitalized or do not have family members that are hospitalized and are not a potential user of the eLSDA.

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

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
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.
Experimental: Intervention
Patient/family are randomized to either the active intervention (web based life support patient decision aid - eLSDA and decision coaching) or usual care comparison.
Behavioral: Web based life support patient decision aid
The web-based life support decision aid (eLSDA) was adapted from a print-based decision aid. The eLSDA includes information on the pros and cons of both life support and comfort care. The eLSDA lays out the decision about life support for an individual patient/family in a logical stepwise fashion to permit discussion, ask questions, and permit reflection on each step. At the end of the eLSDA, unmet decision-making needs are identified to seek support from the healthcare team.
Other Names:
  • eLSDA
Behavioral: Decision coaching
During the interactive process of using the eLSDA, the study nurse provides decision coaching for patient/family, specifically a facilitated values clarification exercise.
Other Names:
  • expert facilitation
No Intervention: Usual Care Comparison
Patients may also randomized to review current web based resources provided by the health region for seriously ill patients.

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
Measure Description
Time Frame
Acceptability & Usability of the eLSDA
Time Frame: up to 15 minutes
The acceptability and usability is assessed by conducting an Acceptability Survey which asks participants 8 validated questions about the use, amount of information, length, clarity, balance in presentation, willingness to recommend to others and overall suitability for decision making. The intervention will be considered acceptable if score of the acceptability survey exceeds 80%.
up to 15 minutes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Knowledge about life-sustaining technologies
Time Frame: up to 15 minutes
This knowledge of life-sustaining technologies will be measured after using the eLSDA using the self-report questionnaire. The knowledge questionnaire was developed for this study based on the eLSDA to test users' knowledge of life-sustaining technologies.
up to 15 minutes
Clarity of values regarding life-sustaining technologies
Time Frame: up to 30 minutes
The patient's values will be collected in the eLSDA.
up to 30 minutes
Congruence between the documented physician's orders and patient choice
Time Frame: up to 5 minutes
Congruence between documented physician orders and patient choice when participants use the eLSDA and/or based on patient communication during the discussion with their physician will be reported as simple agreement: (Yes/No)
up to 5 minutes
Feasibility of Evaluation Process
Time Frame: up to 30 minutes
The measures of feasibility are established by the rate of completion of the eLSDA, debriefing and study procedures. The study will be considered feasible if 60% of those approached agreed to participate in the study; >75% of participants discuss the decision about life support during the encounter, <5% of the participants are distressed by the eLSDA, and 80% of participants complete data collection.
up to 30 minutes

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.
University of Saskatchewan

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.
Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation

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: Jennifer Kryworuchko, PhD RN CNCC, University of British Columbia
  • Study Director: Wanda Martin, PhD RN, University of Saskatchewan
  • Study Chair: Donna Goodridge, University of Saskatchewan
  • Study Chair: Petrina McGrath, Saskatoon Health Region
  • Study Chair: Karen Levesque, Saskatoon Health Region

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

Helpful Links

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 (Actual)

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.
June 1, 2014

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.
January 29, 2017

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.
January 29, 2017

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 29, 2017

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 29, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

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.
September 5, 2017

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.
October 30, 2018

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.
October 26, 2018

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.
October 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

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.
  • BEH12334

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

There is not a plan to make IPD available.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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