Enhancing Coping Skills in Patients With Cancer

Enhancing Coping Skills in Patients With Cancer - a Randomized Controlled Study

• Approximately 30% of all patients with cancer report levels of psychological distress indicative of the need for psychological intervention.
• Research suggests that learning more adaptive coping strategies improves psychological adjustment to cancer.
• It is imperative to develop cost-efficient, feasible psychosocial interventions.
• The aim is to test the efficacy of the self administered format of a psycho-educational intervention (NUCARE) in reducing distress and enhancing adaptive coping strategies for cancer patients.

It is hypothesized that:

• patients would show significant reductions in distress (i.e., depression and anxiety) over the 6-week treatment period, and that treatment would produce superior results compared to wait-list; patients would maintain or even increase their improvement up to 3 months following treatment.
• the treatment would enhance more adaptive coping strategies.
• greater self-reported adherence to the treatment/homework would be associated with symptom improvement, more autonomous self-regulation and higher perceived competence for adhering to the coping intervention program.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Self administered coping intervention

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 1
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Quebec
    • Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 1A1
      • McGill University Health Centre - Melanoma Clinic & Cedars CanSupport

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18+ years of age,
• able to read English,
• a cancer patient presenting at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) interested in participating,
• willing to receive minimal therapist contact (by telephone) and self administered therapy,
• able to give their own consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• currently receiving psychological/psychiatric treatment/counselling,
• indicate at the time of recruitment that they intend to seek psychological treatment elsewhere during the study period,
• a history of psychosis or bipolar disorder,
• substance abuse/dependence in last 6 months,
• taking psychotropic medication with altering dosages in the past 3 months.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Immediate Intervention Treatment	Other: Self administered coping intervention; The self administered coping intervention (i.e. NUCARE workbook) aims to teach individuals how to cope with their cancer. The intervention embraces two major areas: (i) the enhancement of a sense of personal control; and (ii) the learning of emotional and instrumental coping responses. The approach emphasizes training in problem-solving, relaxation techniques, cognitive coping skills, goal setting, communication, social support and lifestyle factors. The didactic material of the Nucare program is comprised of a workbook containing 12 chapters addressing the above mentioned aspects.
Experimental: Wait list	Other: Self administered coping intervention; The self administered coping intervention (i.e. NUCARE workbook) aims to teach individuals how to cope with their cancer. The intervention embraces two major areas: (i) the enhancement of a sense of personal control; and (ii) the learning of emotional and instrumental coping responses. The approach emphasizes training in problem-solving, relaxation techniques, cognitive coping skills, goal setting, communication, social support and lifestyle factors. The didactic material of the Nucare program is comprised of a workbook containing 12 chapters addressing the above mentioned aspects.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Change in The Health Education Impact Questionnaire from pre to post intervention, at 6 weeks post intervention, and 3 months post intervention	pre-intervention (week 0), post intervention (week 6), 6 weeks post intervention, 3 months post intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in coping strategies & distress from pre to post intervention, at 6 weeks post intervention, and 3 months post intervention	Measured with The Ways of Coping Questionnaire - Cancer Version scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale	pre-intervention (week 0), post intervention (week 6), 6 week post intervention, 3 month post intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: McGill University Health Centre/Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre
• Collaborators: Louise Granofsky-Psychosocial Oncology Program, Segal Cancer Centre, Montreal
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Annett Koerner, PhD, McGill University Health Centre/Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: June 1, 2011
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 1, 2012
• Study Completion (Actual): August 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 20, 2011
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 20, 2011
• First Posted (Estimate): May 24, 2011

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): August 22, 2012
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 21, 2012
• Last Verified: August 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: coping; psychological distress; self-administered intervention
• Other Study ID Numbers: 10-327-PSY