Reliability and Validity of Self-measured Arm Circumference in Women With Breast Cancer

March 9, 2018 updated by: Kristin Campbell, University of British Columbia
Early detection and treatment of onset or worsening of breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) can potentially prevent or postpone the condition to progress into a chronic progressive condition or eliminate the risk of infections in the arm (cellulitis). Self-surveillance for BCRL by routinely measuring own arm circumference could potentially enable early detection of onset or worsening of lymphedema. The aim is to determine whether women who have received surgery for breast cancer, can perform self-measures of arm circumference in a reliable and valid manner using written and video supported instructions without in-person teaching by a physiotherapist.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Purpose: to test the reliability and validity of self-measured arm circumference compared to measures performed by a specialized therapist and by the perometer (gold standard).

The hypothesis is that there will be an excellent correlation between arm circumference measures performed by the participant and by an experienced physiotherapist and a moderate correlation between arm circumference measures performed by the patient and determined by perometer, as well as arm volume calculated from arm circumference measurements and measured by the perometer.

Design: A cross-sectional study of women at risk of breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) (n=20) and with BCRL (n=20)

Procedures: Participants will complete one self-assessment at home and one self-assessment at a laboratory the University of British Columbia (UBC).

Home Self-assessment: Participants will be sent a study package by mail, which will contain the consent form, a tape measure, written instructions supplemented with illustrations, a link for a video guide, and a measurement form, along with an opaque envelop for the measurement form. Participants will be asked to first review the written and video material outlining the measurement process, prior to completing a short self-assessment quiz on the self-measurement technique. Participants will then perform arm circumference measures of both arms as per the instructions, record the measurements on the provided form and seal the form in a provided envelope. The envelope will be returned to the study team at the lab assessment.

Lab Self-assessment: At the visit at UBC, participants will be asked by study staff to repeat these arm circumference measures with support from the video and written instructions, unsupervised by a physiotherapist. This will be followed by an assessment by the physiotherapist and measures with the perometer.

Statistical analysis plan: Intra-rater (between self-measures performed at home and at the lab), inter-rater reliability (between self-measures performed at lab and therapist-measures) and concurrent validity analysis (between self-measures performed at lab and perometer measures) will be conducted separately for women with and without BCRL.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

41

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

    • British Columbia
      • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6T 1Z4
        • University of British Columbia

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

14 years to 76 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • women, who have received surgery for breast cancer with axillary or sentinel lymph node dissection within the last 3 months to 5 years, including those who are undergoing chemotherapy or radiation
  • with and without a clinical diagnosis of BCRL in one or two arms
  • age 18 to 80 years
  • who can understand the self-measurement instructions given in English
  • who have access and ability to use internet to view the self-measurement video tutorial

Exclusion 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: Other
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Women with breast cancer-related lymphedema
Participants will measure their own arm circumference and be measured by a specialized physiotherapist and by a perometer.
Experimental: Women at risk of breast cancer-related lymphedema
Participants will measure their own arm circumference and be measured by a specialized physiotherapist and by a perometer.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) for intra-rater reliability of self-measured arm circumference
Time Frame: Self-measures performed twice with 2 days apart
ICC is scored from 0 to 1. Reliability is considered poor when the ICC < 0.40, moderate between 0.40 and 0.75, substantial between 0.75 and 0.90, and excellent when >0.90. The total agreement between self-measured arm circumference performed twice by the participant will be calculated.
Self-measures performed twice with 2 days apart
Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) for inter-rater reliability between arm circumference measures performed by the participant herself and by the therapist.
Time Frame: Both measures are performed same day within one hour
The total agreement between self-measured arm circumference performed by the participant and by a physiotherapist will be calculated.
Both measures are performed same day within one hour
Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) for concurrent validity of self-measured arm circumference and perometer-measures
Time Frame: Both measures are performed same day within one hour
The total agreement between self-measured arm circumference performed by the participant and by a perometer will be calculated.
Both measures are performed same day within one hour

Collaborators and Investigators

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

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.

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 (Actual)

June 1, 2016

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 18, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 22, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

April 27, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 13, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 9, 2018

Last Verified

March 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • H16-00961

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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