Enhancing Collaboration Between Doctors and Patients to Improve Asthma

March 7, 2013 updated by: University of California, San Francisco

Cueing Patient-Clinician Collaboration to Improve Asthma

The purpose of this study is to improve anti-inflammatory medication adherence and asthma outcomes by using reports of peak flow monitoring to prompt communication between patients and their doctors.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

BACKGROUND:

Asthma is a chronic, potentially life-threatening disease that affects 17 million people in the United States. Asthma leads to millions of lost work days and thousands of hospitalizations annually. For the millions of people with this disease, it is chronic but controllable. Corticosteroids are the most effective medication for the long-term treatment of persistent asthma, and inhaling the medication minimizes the potential for systemic side effects. Despite convincing evidence of the benefits of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), both patients and doctors seem reluctant to use them regularly. Many people who are prescribed ICS either never take them, or take them less frequently (e.g., once rather than twice daily), less regularly (e.g., "as needed" rather than daily), or at lower doses than prescribed. Doctors agree that at least 50% of people who are prescribed ICS fail to benefit fully because of poor adherence. The many reasons for non-adherence are not fully understood. The relationship between the doctor and patient, an area in which potential impact can be made, is believed to be the strongest predictor of medication adherence. Providing pertinent information about asthma related lung function should prompt communication between the patient and doctor to improve adherence to ICS.

DESIGN NARRATIVE:

The overall purpose of this study is to improve anti-inflammatory medication adherence and asthma outcomes by encouraging communication between patients and their doctor. The specific aims of the study include the following: 1) improve adherence to ICS medication by encouraging patient-doctor communication with feedback of objective information about airflow obstruction to reinforce medication-taking behavior; and 2) document the impact that the encouragement of communication has on health care outcomes, including health care utilization, pulmonary function, need for rescue courses of oral steroids, and functional impact. The hypothesis of the study is that informing patients and their primary care doctors about the degree of airflow obstruction will prompt interaction between them resulting in greater adherence to ICS medication over one year than will occur in a control group of similar patients who do not receive feedback. Promoting communication between adults with asthma and their doctors in a primary care clinical setting has not yet been studied. All doctors within three general medicine practices and their adult patients with moderate to severe asthma will be enrolled and assigned to either the intervention or usual care. Feedback of interpreted peak flow graphs in relation to current medication therapy will prompt the communication. The intent is to encourage and support the relationship between the doctor and patient rather than to directly intervene. The power of encouraging communication lies in the ensuing dialogue between the doctor and patient. Improvement of adherence to ICS among people with moderate or severe asthma has been shown to decrease morbidity of asthma and improve health outcomes.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

139

Phase

  • 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
    • California
      • San Francisco, California, United States, 94143
        • University of California, San Francisco, Parnassus Campus

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 to 72 years (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Asthma
  • Currently using ICS
  • Planning to live in the San Francisco Bay Area in the year following study entry

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of any lung disease other than asthma
  • Has a smoking history greater than or equal to 15 pack-years
  • Psychological problems that may make monthly study visits impossible

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: TREATMENT
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: QUADRUPLE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: 1
Participants will receive feedback and peak flow monitoring reports from their doctors.
Behavioral: Status Reports
Interpreted Analysis of Peak-Flow Monitoring Trends
NO_INTERVENTION: 2
Participants will receive usual care.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Adherence to ICS medication
Time Frame: Measured on a monthly basis
Measured on a monthly basis

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of California, San Francisco

Collaborators

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Investigators

  • Study Chair: Susan L. Janson, DNSc,ANP,RN, University of California, San Francisco

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

December 1, 2003

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

February 1, 2008

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

February 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 16, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 16, 2005

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

September 20, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

March 11, 2013

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 7, 2013

Last Verified

March 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 279
  • R01HL073098 (NIH)

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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