Shared-Decision Making for Hydroxyurea (ENGAGE-HU)

June 4, 2025 updated by: Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati

Engaging Parents of Children With Sickle Cell Anemia and Their Providers in Shared-Decision Making for Hydroxyurea (ENGAGE HU)

The goal of the study is to understand how best to help parents of young children with sickle cell disease and their clinicians have a shared discussion about hydroxyurea (one that takes into account medical evidence and parent values and preferences). The study will compare two methods to help clinicians facilitate this-a clinician pocket guide and a clinician hydroxyurea shared decision making toolkit-in a group of parents of children ages 0-5 with sickle cell disease. The investigators hope that both methods lead to parents reaching a high-quality, well-informed decision. In addition, the team hopes to demonstrate that parents who experience a shared decision will have lower anxiety and decisional uncertainty. The researchers also expect these parents to be more likely to choose hydroxyurea and that their children will have less pain, fewer hospitalizations, better developmental outcomes, and higher quality of life. The project team hopes to show that the toolkit method is easy for clinicians to use and gives parents the support needed to make an informed decision.

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

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic blood disorder that places children at risk for serious medical complications, early morbidity and mortality, and high healthcare utilization. In the U.S., SCD primarily affects African-American and Latino children. Hydroxyurea is one of the only disease-modifying treatment for this devastating and life-threatening disease. National Evidence-Based Guidelines recommend the use of a shared decision making approach to offer hydroxyurea to all children with SCD as early as nine months of age. Hydroxyurea uptake remains low because parents lack information about hydroxyurea and have concerns about its safety and potential long-term side effects (e.g. cancer, infertility, birth defects). Clinicians do not have the training or tools to facilitate a shared discussion with parents that provides medical evidence and considers parent preferences and values. The current study compares two methods for disseminating hydroxyurea guidelines and facilitating shared decision-making: the American Society of Hematology's hydroxyurea clinician pocket guide (usual care method) and a clinician hydroxyurea shared decision-making toolkit (H-SDM toolkit). The specific aims of the study are to evaluate the effectiveness of the usual care dissemination method (clinician pocket guide) and the H-SDM clinician toolkit dissemination method on: parent report of decisional uncertainty (primary outcome chosen by parents of children with SCD), parent perception of experiencing shared decision-making, parent knowledge of hydroxyurea, the number of children offered hydroxyurea, hydroxyurea uptake (those with active prescriptions), and child health outcomes (pain, neurocognitive functioning, sickle cell related quality of life and healthcare utilization). Eligible children must be between the ages of 0 and 5 and a candidate for hydroxyurea to participate. The trial will use a stepped-wedge design (clinic is the unit of randomization). The long-term objective of the research team is to improve the quality of care for children with SCD. The investigators propose that suboptimal care for patients with SCD is preventable with the use of multicomponent dissemination methods if developed with key stakeholders and designed to address barriers to high quality care at multiple levels (patient, clinician, healthcare system, and community).

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.
176

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 Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Oakland, California, United States, 94609
        • UCSF Beinoff Children's Hospital and Research Center at Oakland
    • Delaware
      • Wilmington, Delaware, United States, 19803
        • Nemours Children's Health
    • District of Columbia
      • Washington, District of Columbia, United States, 20060
        • Howard University
    • Illinois
      • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611
        • Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
    • Indiana
      • Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, 46260
        • Indiana Hemophilia & Thrombosis center
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02118
        • Boston Children's Hospital
    • Missouri
      • Saint Louis, Missouri, United States, 63110
        • The Washington University
    • Ohio
      • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43205
        • Nationwide Children's Hospital
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
        • Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
    • Tennessee
      • Nashville, Tennessee, United States, 37232
        • Vanderbilt University Medical Center
    • Texas
      • Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
        • Baylor College of Medicine

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

1 month to 5 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Diagnosis: sickle cell disease
  2. Age: birth-5 years, inclusive
  3. Eligible for hydroxyurea (genotype SS, Sβ0Thal or other genotype + clinical complications)
  4. Child's parent, legal guardian, or designated decision maker (caregiver) must participate in both study visits
  5. Child's parent, legal guardian, or designated decision maker (caregiver) must able to read, understand, and speak English

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Parent/legal guardian has previously been approached OR made a decision about whether to initiate hydroxyurea.
  2. Any and all other diagnoses or conditions which, in the opinion of the site investigator or hematologist, would prevent the patient from being a suitable candidate for 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: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Sequential Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

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: Hydroxyurea SDM Toolkit (H-SDM)
During the H-SDM toolkit condition, sites will develop methods for identifying Eligible Patients & Monitoring Progress, have the opportunity to use Implementation Tools, and will use the Visit Decision Aids. The H-SDM toolkit has four visit decision aids to support parents in their decision about hydroxyurea: pre-visit brochure, in-visit issue card, after-visit booklet and video narratives {videos of parents telling their story about how they made a decision about hydroxyurea).
Behavioral: Hydroxyurea SDM Toolkit
Implementation tools and visit decision aids
Active Comparator: Clinician Pocket Guide
In this condition, sites will provide current guidelines for offering hydroxyurea and use the American Society of Hematology (ASH) pocket guide as a reference. ASH developed 'The Hydroxyurea and Transfusion Therapy for the Treatment of Sickle Cell Disease' clinician pocket guide based on the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Evidence Based Management of Sickle Cell Disease: Expert Panel Report, 2014.'
Behavioral: Clinician Pocket Guide
current hydroxyurea protocol and ASH pocket guide

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
Decisional Conflict
Time Frame: Baseline - after shared discussion with clinician

Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS) is a 16-item parent-completed survey that measures uncertainty experienced when feeling uninformed about options, unclear about personal values, or unsupported in making a choice. Parents report their level of agreement with each item using a 5 point likert scale (0=strongly agree to 4=strongly disagree). For the total score, items are summed, divided by 16, and multiplied by 25. All subscores consist of 3 items except the Effective Decisions subcore (4 items) that are summed, divided by the number of items (3 or4) and multiplied by 25.

Scores range from 0 (feels extremely certain about best choice) to 100 (feels extremely uncertain about best choice) on the total score and all subscores. Thus, a higher score indicates a high decisional conflict.
Baseline - after shared discussion with clinician
Dyadic OPTION
Time Frame: Baseline visit - after shared discussion with clinician
Dyadic OPTION describes clinician behaviors to involve a patient/parent in decision-making. A total score is calculated which ranges from 0 (no involvement) to 100 (maximal involvement). Dyadic OPTION scores correlate well with OPTION scale (Melbourne et al., 2011); 1 item "My doctor and I made the decision together"(Légaré et al., 2010). Higher scores indicate that the patient/parent has higher shared decision making competencies.
Baseline visit - after shared discussion with clinician

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
Hydroxyurea Offered
Time Frame: From date of randomization until the date of first documented offering or prescription, whichever came first, assessed up to 7 months
1 of 3 responses - completed by the research coordinator based on review of electronic medical record (EMR) data: hydroxyurea was not offered, offered, or previously prescribed.
From date of randomization until the date of first documented offering or prescription, whichever came first, assessed up to 7 months
Satisfaction With Decision-Making
Time Frame: Baseline after the shared discussion
Eight-item survey adapted from the Satisfaction With Decision scale 41 (4 items) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey related to patient experience of care (4 items). 42 Items are summed to obtain a total score ranging from 0 to 28, with higher scores indicating higher satisfaction.
Baseline after the shared discussion
Ages & Stages Questionnaire - Gross Motor Subscale
Time Frame: After discussion with clinician
This questionnaire is a reliable, accurate developmental and social-emotional screener for children between birth and 6 years of age, with a Cronbach α = .60 to .85. Scores range from 0 to 60, with higher scores indicating that the child's development is on schedule.
After discussion with clinician
Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory - Sickle Cell Disease Module (Peds QL - SCD Module) - Total Score
Time Frame: After shared discussion with clinician
Parent report of sickle cell disease (SCD)-specific quality of life (QOL) and pain, as measured by the Pediatric Quality of Life (PedsQL) SCD Module, which assesses several domains of health-related quality of life (HRQOL), including pain impact, fatigue, pain management, emotions, communication, and treatment adherence. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating higher HRQOL or higher functioning.
After shared discussion with clinician
Hydroxyurea Knowledge
Time Frame: After shared discussion with clinician
Eight-item survey developed based on the existing literature, the Ottawa Knowledge User Manual, and parent and clinician stakeholders and used in our pilot work. Items are summed to obtain a total score ranging from 0 to 9, with higher scores indicating more knowledge.
After shared discussion with clinician

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.
Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati

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: Lori E Crosby, PsyD, Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati

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 (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.
July 12, 2018

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 28, 2022

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.
February 28, 2022

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).
February 9, 2018

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.
February 20, 2018

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.
February 22, 2018

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.
June 13, 2025

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 4, 2025

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.
June 1, 2025

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.
  • CDR_1609_36055

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

This study will comply with the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Public Access Policy, which ensures that the public has access to the published results of PCORI funded research.

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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