Impact of a Telephone-based Support Intervention on the Long-term Well-being of Women Undergoing Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Anomaly (TOPFA)

July 29, 2009 updated by: Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital

The Impact of a Telephone-based Support Intervention on the Long-term Well-being of Women Undergoing Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Anomaly

This study focuses on women undergoing termination of pregnancy for fetal anomalies (TOPFA). Psychological consequences of such terminations may be even greater than those associated with spontaneous losses of pregnancy because of shame and guilt which can result in social isolation. Currently, there is little support for women after they have left hospital. In this study, 50 TOPFA women will be randomly assigned to an intervention group and 50 to a control group. By completing four questionnaires at the time of induction of labour, total sample will be assessed for depression, stress and "hardiness"; they will be reassessed at 3, 6, and 12 months. Total sample will be interviewed by phone at 6 and 12 months. We hope to determine whether a telephone-based intervention (a biweekly supportive call) can decrease the emotional distress experienced by women undergoing termination of pregnancy.

Study Overview

Status

Withdrawn

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

We hypothesize that: 1)women in the intervention group will show lower rates of depression and stress and a significant increase in hardiness over time at 6 and 12 months post-termination compared with the control group; 2) women who score low on hardiness initially will experience more psychological distress at 6 and 12 months than subjects who score higher initially, irrespective of group; 3) women who have anxious/avoidant attachment styles will not show an improvement in psychological distress over time, irrespective of group.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

100

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

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 1X5
        • Mount Sinai Hospital

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

19 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • women over 18 years of age undergoing termination of pregnancy for fetal anomaly at Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto
  • fluent in oral and written English
  • able to understand the nature of the study
  • can provide informed consent
  • can be reached by telephone

Exclusion Criteria:

-women who are currently seeing a therapist or undergoing psychiatric care, and women who do not meet all of the inclusion criteria

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
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: A
Subjects in the intervention group will receive supportive telephone calls biweekly for 6 months.
Behavioral: supportive call
Each subject in the intervention group will receive a 10 minute (or longer) biweekly telephone call from a psychologist intended to provide non-judgemental support to TOPFA women with the aim of reducing depression, guilt, isolation, shame, marital discord, and other common psychological sequelae of termination for fetal anomalies.
No Intervention: B
Subjects in the control group will receive no intervention.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
At time of induction of labour and at 3, 6, and 12 months post-TOPFA: scores on the Beck Depression Inventory, the Impact of Events Scale, the Lang and Goulet Hardiness Scale,the Relationship Scales Questionnaire
Time Frame: One year
One year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Total sample will be interviewed by telephone at 6 and 12 months post-TOPFA
Time Frame: One year
One year

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Eileen Sloan, PhD MD FRCP, Mount Sinai Hospital, Canada

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

September 1, 2007

Study Completion (Anticipated)

September 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 17, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 17, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

December 19, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

July 30, 2009

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 29, 2009

Last Verified

July 1, 2009

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 07-0157-E

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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