Dyadic Life Review Intervention for Older Patients With Advanced Cancer) and Their Caregivers (DLR RCT)

June 9, 2026 updated by: Lee Kehoe, University of Rochester

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) of a Dyadic Life Review Intervention for Older Patients With Advanced Cancer) and Their Caregivers

The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility of a pilot Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) comparing Dyadic Life Review (DLR) intervention in older adults with advanced cancer and their caregivers to Care-as-Usual (CAU) group, which involves a referral to social work.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Terminated

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

The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility of a pilot Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) comparing Dyadic Life Review (DLR) intervention in older adults with advanced cancer and their caregivers to Care-as-Usual (CAU) group, which involves a referral to social work. The study will enroll dyads (pairs) of caregivers and older patients with advanced cancer and dyads of caregivers and patients with advanced cancer. A previous single-arm study was performed testing the feasibility of the adapted DLR intervention in older adults with advanced cancer and their caregivers. The single-arm pilot demonstrated DLR was feasible and acceptable by both patients and caregivers. This innovative pilot study will gather data to test the feasibility of a pilot and examine pre-post intervention changes in caregiver psychological distress.

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.
6

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
    • New York
      • Rochester, New York, United States, 14642
        • University of Rochester

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Patient Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age ≥ 65
  • Patient has a Stage III or IV advanced cancer diagnosis of any type
  • Score of 4 or more on National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Distress Thermometer (DT)*
  • Able to read and understand English

Patient Exclusion Criteria:

• Unable to identify caregiver to participate in study

Caregiver Inclusion Criteria:

  • One caregiver must enroll with each patient for either subject to be eligible.
  • Caregivers will be selected by the patient when asked if there is a "significant other, spouse, romantic partner, or adult child with whom you discuss or can be helpful in health-related matters;"
  • Age 50 or older
  • Able to reach and understand English

Caregiver Exclusion Criteria:

• Caregivers unable to provide consent

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: 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: Dyadic Life Review
The Dyadic Life Review Arm (DLR) consists of 8 sessions delivered by a trained licensed clinician. Each session facilitates a recall of each phase of life. The patient and caregiver will each be asked structured questions to prompt reminiscence of memories from that phase of life. Interventionists are able to use clinical judgment to prompt further or ask follow-up questions or reflections. Additionally, the patient and caregiver will be asked to respond to the other dyad member's memory or reflection. Each session will have flexibility for clinical judgement.
Behavioral: Dyadic Life Review
DLR is an intervention that will promote relationship closeness, communication, and psychological distress in both older adults and caregivers.
Other Names:
  • DLR
No Intervention: Case-As-Usual
The Care-As-Usual (CAU) arm will follow current practices for responding to patient distress. The CAU for patients involves a supportive follow-up phone call from the social work team to further assess the patient's experience of distress. In some instances, the social worker will use their clinical judgement to further refer the patient to community resources to support distress. The number of phone calls and any subsequent community referrals or appointments related to distress that occur will be tracked.

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
DLR Intervention Enrollment Rate
Time Frame: 18 weeks
Evaluate the feasibility of DLR in older patients and caregivers based on enrollment rate.
18 weeks
DLR Intervention Retention Rate
Time Frame: 18 weeks
Evaluate the feasibility of DLR in older patients and caregivers based on retention rate.
18 weeks

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
Unidimensional Relationship Closeness Scale
Time Frame: 18 weeks
Quality of relationship with care-receiver: assesses quality of relationship between participant and family member and has demonstrated valid scores across several relationship types, including spouses and other family members. This is a 12-item scale, rated from 1-7 (1=strongly agree, 7=strongly disagree), with a possible total of 84; a higher score indicates a higher level of closeness.
18 weeks
Communication Satisfaction Scale
Time Frame: 18 weeks
The observation of each partner's level of satisfaction with various aspects of their communication. This is a 12-item scale, rated from 1-5 (1=not at all satisfied, 5=extremely satisfied), with a possible total of 60; a higher score indicates greater satisfaction with communication.
18 weeks
Distress Thermometer
Time Frame: 18 weeks
A self-report measure to capture distress and identify a list of sources of that distress. This is a 10-item scale, rated from 0-10 (0=no distress, 10=severe distress), with a possible total of 10; a higher score indicates greater distress.
18 weeks

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 Rochester

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.
May 23, 2025

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.
October 31, 2025

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 22, 2026

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).
July 10, 2024

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.
July 10, 2024

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.
July 17, 2024

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 11, 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.
June 9, 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.
June 1, 2026

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.
  • UOCPC24051

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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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