Computer-Based Survey and Communication Aid in Improving Physician-Patient Communication and Treatment Decision Making in Patients With Metastatic Cancer

January 28, 2013 updated by: Fox Chase Cancer Center

Facilitating Decision Making in Advanced Cancer Patients

RATIONALE: A computer-based survey and communication aid may help physicians and patients to communicate better and help make treatment decisions easier.

PURPOSE: This phase III randomized clinical trial is studying how well giving a computer-based survey together with a communication aid works compared to a computer-based survey alone in improving physician-patient communication and treatment decision making in patients with metastatic cancer.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

OBJECTIVES:

  • Compare satisfaction with physician-patient communication and decisional conflict in patients with metastatic cancer undergoing a computer-based survey with vs without a communication aid.
  • Compare patient expectations regarding potential benefits and adverse reactions associated with treatment options in patients undergoing the computer-based survey and communication aid.
  • Compare the content of physician-patient consultations in patients undergoing the computer-based survey and communication aid.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, controlled, multicenter study.

Patients are randomized to 1 of 3 study arms.

  • Arm I (generic computer-based survey): Patients complete a 45- to 60-minute generic computer-based survey that assesses demographics, familiarity and comfort with computers, treatment history, and affective elements.
  • Arm II (targeted computer-based survey and communication aid with physician summary report): Patients complete a 45- to 60-minute targeted computer-based survey assessing patient values, information needs, and distress. Patients then complete a targeted computer-based communication aid that addresses cognitive and affective components of cancer treatment education and provides communication skills training. After completion of the survey and communication aid, a summary report of the survey results is generated and provided to the patient's physician.
  • Arm III (targeted computer-based survey and communication aid): Patients complete a targeted computer-based survey and communication aid as in arm II. No summary report is provided to the physician.

After completion of a computer-based survey and communication aid, all patients undergo a consultation with their physician. A randomized subset of 25% of physician consultations* are audiotaped and later analyzed. Patients complete a 15-minute written survey after completion of the physician consultation and then at 3 months.

NOTE: *Patients are stratified according to study arm (I vs II vs III) and consulting physician gender for this randomization.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 720 patients will be accrued for this study.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

720

Phase

  • Phase 3

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
    • Illinois
      • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611-3013
        • Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19111-2497
        • Fox Chase Cancer Center - Philadelphia
    • Tennessee
      • Nashville, Tennessee, United States, 37208-3599
        • MBCCOP - Meharry Medical College - Nashville

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 and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

  • Documented metastatic malignancy
  • First visit with medical oncologist at study site

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Performance status

  • Not specified

Life expectancy

  • Not specified

Hematopoietic

  • Not specified

Hepatic

  • Not specified

Renal

  • Not specified

Other

  • Able to read and speak English

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Not specified

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

  • Allocation: Randomized

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Satisfaction with patient-physician communication by Medical Interview Satisfaction Survey and Face Valid Survey given immediately after the first consultation
Assess decisional conflict by Decisional Conflict Scale immediately after the first consultation and at 3 months after study completion
Expectations regarding potential benefits and adverse reactions associated with treatment options by Treatment Options Expectations Scale given immediately after the first consultation and at 3 months after study completion
Assess content of consultation by applying a coding scheme to transcripts and design yes/no questions immediately after the first consultation

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Fox Chase Cancer Center

Collaborators

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Neal J. Meropol, MD, Fox Chase 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

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

July 1, 2003

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 25, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 25, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

October 27, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

January 29, 2013

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 28, 2013

Last Verified

January 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CDR0000442928
  • FCCC-03826
  • FCCC-NCI-FC03CC9
  • NU-119-385

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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