Shared Decision-Making for Colorectal Cancer Screening

The overall objective of this study is to conduct a three-arm randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of an interactive, web-based decision aid on shared decision-making and patient adherence to colorectal cancer (CRC) screening recommendations.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related death and third most commonly diagnosed cancer among men and women in the United States. Screening has been shown to be a cost-effective strategy for reducing both CRC mortality through early detection and incidence through the detection and removal of precancerous adenomatous polyps (adenomas). Despite a compelling rationale and widespread endorsement by authoritative groups, screening rates remain far below those necessary to achieve significant reductions in CRC mortality or incidence. Poor patient acceptance and non-adherence to screening recommendations are partly responsible for low screening rates. Shared decision-making has been advocated as a potentially effective yet unproven strategy for addressing this problem. Implicit in this approach is the need for an unbiased decision aid that not only educates patients about the pros and cons of the different strategies so as to enable them to identify a preferred strategy but also empowers patients to take a proactive role in the decision-making process, thereby increasing satisfaction and promoting adherence. From a logistical standpoint, the decision aid must also be easy to implement in the ambulatory setting so as to maximize use but minimize demands on physician time and office resources. To address this need, we have developed an interactive, web-based decision aid and implementation strategy for use in routine clinical practice.

Comparison(s): Average risk subjects assigned to one of two intervention arms (decision aid alone versus decision aid plus personalized risk assessment with feedback) compared to a control arm(generic website that discusses lifestyle changes that can reduce overall cancer risk).

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

825

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

    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02118
        • Boston Medical Center
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02127
        • South Boston Community Health 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

Ages Eligible for Study

50 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Asymptomatic average-risk subjects
  • Under the direct care of one of participating site's staff (attending) physicians or physician extenders;
  • No prior screening other than fecal occult blood testing (FOBT);
  • No major co-morbidities that preclude CRC screening by any method

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Prior CRC screening by any method other than FOBT occult blood testing
  • High-risk condition (personal history of colorectal cancer or polyps, family history of colorectal cancer or polyps involving one or more first degree relatives, chronic inflammatory bowel disease)
  • Lack of fluency in written and spoken English (since decision aid and personalized risk assessment tool will be in English only due to funding issues);
  • Comorbidities that preclude CRC screening by any method

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: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Decision aid plus YourDiseaseRisk
Patients viewed the decision aid and completed the Your Disease Risk risk assessment tool prior to visit with their primary care provider.
Patients review a computer-based decision aid that discuss the pros and cons of of 5 recommended CRC screening options and provides personalized 10-year estimates of CRC risk prior to meeting with their provider to discuss CRC screening.
Other Names:
  • Decision aid, personalized risk assessment tool
Experimental: Decision aid alone
Patient's viewed decision aid only prior to a visit with their primary care provider.
Patients review a computer-based decision aid that discuss the pros and cons of the 5 recommended CRC screening options prior to meeting with their provider to discuss CRC screening.
Other Names:
  • Decision aid
Sham Comparator: III
Standard care
Patients review a generic website that discuss ways to reduce overall cancer risk.
Other Names:
  • Control condtion

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Patient Adherence (Test Completion)
Time Frame: 12 months post-intervention
Completion of a screening test within 12 months of the study visit.
12 months post-intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Patient Knowledge
Time Frame: Immediate post-intervention study visit
Knowledge was assessed at baseline (pretest) and at the time of the exit survey (posttest) based on responses to a 12-item questionnaire (True/False/Don't know) that inquired about CRC risk factors, the rationale and goals of screening, and age at which screening should begin. Cumulative knowledge scores (range, 0-12) were derived by summing correct responses to the 12 individual knowledge questions.
Immediate post-intervention study visit
Patient Satisfaction With Decision Making Process
Time Frame: Immediate post-intervention primary care provider (PCP) visit
Patient satisfaction with the decision-making process (SDMP) was assessed using the validated 12-item Satisfaction with the Decision-Making Process scale. Five ordered response categories were used for each item. Each response was assigned a point score ranging from 1 for "strongly disagree" (or "poor") to 5 for "strongly agree" (or "excellent"). A cumulative score was calculated based on the summed response scores for each item (maximum score = 60). Mean item substitution was used to impute missing data.
Immediate post-intervention primary care provider (PCP) visit
Screening Intentions
Time Frame: Immediate post-intervention study visit
Screening intentions were also assessed as part of the posttest. Subjects were asked how sure they were that they would schedule an appointment to get screened for colorectal cancer and how sure they were that they would complete the screening test they scheduled. An ordered 5-point response frame was used ranging from 1 for "not at all sure" to 5 for "completely sure".
Immediate post-intervention study visit

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Paul C. Schroy III, MD, MPH, Boston Medical 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

January 1, 2005

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2010

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2010

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 9, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 9, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

November 11, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

December 27, 2013

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 2, 2013

Last Verified

September 1, 2013

More Information

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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