RCT of QPS vs General Information Sheet

January 16, 2026 updated by: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Two Different Information Materials in Patients With Advanced Cancer

This trial studies how well information materials work in helping communication between physicians and participants with cancer that has spread to other places in the body and their caregivers. Approaches that encourage participants to actively participate and ask appropriate questions during their visit may be important to enhance their understanding of their illness and empower them to make important decisions regarding their medical care.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not recruiting

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

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To compare patients' perception of helpfulness in communicating with their physicians between a question prompt sheet (QPS) and a general information sheet (GIS).

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To compare caregivers' perception of helpfulness in communicating with their physicians between the QPS and the GIS.

II. To examine the level of patients' and caregivers' overall satisfaction with the consultation with the use of the QPS versus the GIS.

III. To examine physicians' views about the information material and overall satisfaction with the use of the QPS versus the GIS.

IV. To explore how the use of QPS affects the average speaking time of patient or physician during the consultation visit.

V. To establish demographic and clinical predictors of patients' perception of helpfulness of a QPS.

VI. To examine the overall patients' preference between the QPS and GIS in an open label phase.

VII. To compare the change in patient anxiety state with the use of the QPS versus the GIS.

VIII. To explore the factors underlying patients' preferences for the QPS or GIS.

OUTLINE: Participants are randomized into 1 of 2 groups.

GROUP I: Participants receive QPS and answer questions from physician. At follow up visit, participants receive both QPS and GIS.

GROUP II: Participants receive GIS and answer questions from physician. At follow up visit, participants receive both QPS and GIS.

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.
207

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

  • United States
    • Texas
      • Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
        • M D Anderson Cancer 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

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 and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • (Patient participation) First outpatient consultation visit with a palliative care specialist
  • (Patient participation) Normal cognitive status, defined as a normal state of arousal and an absence of obvious clinical findings of confusion, memory deficits or concentration deficits, as determined by the patient's physician
  • (Patient participation) Ability to read and communicate in English
  • (Patient participation) Diagnosis of advanced cancer
  • (Patient participation) Signed written informed consent form
  • (Caregiver participation) accompanied the patient to the clinic visit
  • (Caregiver participation) is identified by the patient as someone who is actively involved in their overall care
  • (Caregiver participation) is able to read and communicate in English
  • (Caregiver participation) is willing to participate in the study and able to complete the questionnaires
  • (Physician participation) a palliative medicine specialist
  • (Physician participation) seeing the patient in consultation on the day of the study
  • (Physician participation) willing to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Refusal to participate in the study

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: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

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: Group I (QPS)
Participants receive QPS and answer questions from physician. At follow up visit, participants receive both QPS and GIS.
Other: Questionnaire Administration
Ancillary studies
Other: Informational Intervention
Receive QPS
Other: Informational Intervention
Receive GIS
Active Comparator: Group II (GIS)
Participants receive GIS and answer questions from physician. At follow up visit, participants receive both QPS and GIS.
Other: Questionnaire Administration
Ancillary studies
Other: Informational Intervention
Receive QPS
Other: Informational Intervention
Receive GIS

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
Patients' perception of helpfulness (0-10 scale) in communicating with their physicians after the first consultation visit
Time Frame: Up to 3 years
Standard statistics including mean, standard deviation, median, range, frequency and percentage will be summarized for variables of interest, such as patients' demographics, clinical characteristics, anxiety state, patients'/caregivers' views about the information material, patients' satisfaction, physicians' views about the information material and consultation, patients' preferences for information, patient preferences for level of involvement in decision-making and patients' overall preference between the question prompt sheet (QPS) and the general information sheet (GIS) at the follow-up visit. Two sample t-test or Wilcoxon rank sum test, whichever appropriate, will be used to compare continuous variables of interest between the QPS and the GIS. Chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test, whichever appropriate, will be used to test for associations between categorical variables and helpfulness of information material.
Up to 3 years

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
Caregivers' perception of helpfulness in communicating with their physicians
Time Frame: Up to 3 years
Sample t-test or Wilcoxon rank sum test, whichever appropriate, will be used.
Up to 3 years
Patients'/caregivers' overall satisfaction with the consultation
Time Frame: Up to 3 years
Sample t-test or Wilcoxon rank sum test, whichever appropriate, will be used.
Up to 3 years
Physician's view/overall satisfaction about the information material
Time Frame: Up to 3 years
Sample t-test or Wilcoxon rank sum test, whichever appropriate, will be used.
Up to 3 years
Change in patient anxiety state scores before and after consultation between the QPS and the GIS
Time Frame: Baseline up to 6 weeks
Sample t-test or Wilcoxon rank sum test, whichever appropriate, will be used.
Baseline up to 6 weeks
Average speaking time of patient or physician during the consultation visit affected by QPS
Time Frame: Up to 3 years
Two sample t-test or Wilcoxon rank sum test, whichever appropriate, will be used to compare the average speaking time of patient or physician during the consultation visit. Also, general linear model will be applied to assess the effect of QPS on the average speaking time adjusting for clinically and/or statistically important factors.
Up to 3 years
Demographic and clinical predictors of patients' perception of helpfulness of a QPS
Time Frame: Up to 3 years
Univariate/multicovariate logistic regression will be used to evaluate patients' demographic and clinical factors on patients' perception of helpfulness of QPS when dichotomizing the answer to the question 3 in the Patient/Caregiver Assessment Questionnaire ("Agree/Strongly Agree"=Helpful versus the rest).
Up to 3 years
Overall patients' preference between the QPS and GIS in an open label phase
Time Frame: Up to 3 years
Will estimate the preference of information material with 95% confidence intervals. Also, univariate/multicovariate logistic regression will be used to evaluate patients' demographic and clinical factors on overall patients' preference between QPS and GIS.
Up to 3 years

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.
M.D. Anderson 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: Joseph A Arthur, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

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.
September 25, 2017

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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.
December 31, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

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.
December 31, 2027

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).
September 15, 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.
September 15, 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 19, 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.
January 20, 2026

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.
January 16, 2026

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.
January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

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.
  • 2017-0028 (Other Identifier: M D Anderson Cancer Center)
  • NCI-2018-01052 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program))

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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