Understanding Probability in Children

September 14, 2009 updated by: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Evaluation of the Understanding of Probability in Children

To make medical decisions involving pros and cons, one also has to understand probability and percentages. This is a preliminary study to evaluate the ability of children to understand probability and percentages.

Study Overview

Status

Terminated

Detailed Description

The concept of patients making decisions with respect to their health care is well accepted in adult medicine but, the value and importance of decision making in the care of children is not recognized. The major objection raised against allowing children to express their opinions concerning outcomes is that children do not understand probability.

One way of assessing children's ability to understand probability is to test their mathematical knowledge using tests focused on probability and percentage.

We have designed a set of questionnaires with 10 questions each, taken from the US Department of Education's National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). They are divided into 3 different groups (4th, 8th, and 12th grade), based on grade-level. We have also obtained the average percentage of correct-incorrect answers given to these questions by students nationwide, and the scoring system used to assess the student's proficiency level.

In this preliminary study we intend to present this set of 10 mathematical questions to children and to one of their parents.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

165

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

11 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

This prospective study will involve one or two encounters with each child and a parent at the Anesthesia Resource Center (ARC) at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the second visit at CHOP during the post-operative phase of recovery prior to discharge from the hospital.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Males or females ages 11 to 18 years.
  2. Spoken and written English as primary language of both parents and children.
  3. Children scheduled to receive anesthesia.
  4. Parental/guardian permission (informed consent) and if appropriate, child assent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Children with known mental retardation, of any nature.
  2. Children who attend schools for children with special needs.

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

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
1
children between 11 and 13 years of age
2
children between 14 to 15 years of age
3
children between 16 and 18 years of age

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
To compare the percentage of children who answer correctly to a set of mathematical questions to verify the ability of children to understand probability and percentages. The results will be compared to those obtained in children nationwide in 2003.
Time Frame: During pre-operative visit.
During pre-operative visit.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
The secondary objective is to compare the responses between children and parent.
Time Frame: During the pre-operative visit.
During the pre-operative visit.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Arjunan Ganesh, MBBS, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

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

August 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2009

Study Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 2, 2008

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 11, 2008

First Posted (Estimate)

January 14, 2008

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

September 16, 2009

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 14, 2009

Last Verified

September 1, 2009

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2007-1-5125

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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