A Psychological Intervention for Family Caregivers of Palliative Care Patients

August 29, 2019 updated by: M. Antonia Pérez-Marín, University of Valencia

Benefits of a Psychological Intervention in Family Caregivers of Palliative Care Patients

This work aims to study the benefits a psychological intervention in family caregivers of palliative care patients can have for reducing anxiety, depression and overburden.

A parallel randomized controlled trial of two groups was performed. Information was collected on 154 family caregivers of patients at the end of life during the moments before and after the intervention.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

154

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

  • Spain
      • Valencia, Spain, 46010
        • Universitat de València

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

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • To be the main family caregiver of a patient at the end of life, receiven palliative care. In the present study, the main family caregiver is defined as follows: family member who assumes the main tasks of care and attends to the patient most of the time, or for a longer period of time than other members of the family.
  • To have signed the informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• To present cognitive impairment.

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: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control group
Group pf participants that received usual psychological attention.
Experimental: Experimental group
Group of participants that received usual psychological attention plus the structured psychological intervention prosed in the study.
Other: Psychological intervention for family caregivers of patients at the end of life
The intervention protocol is a structured programme within the framework of counselling, that aims to reduce anxiety and depression symptoms, as well as symptoms of burden (overburden).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in anxiety (PRE and POST measures)
Time Frame: Baseline up to 3 months

This variable was assesed with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, HADS. This Scale contains 7 items asessing anxiety, where lower values represent a better outcome.

In order to observe the change in anxiety, it was measured at two time points:

First measurement: PRE. Once the participant had signed the informed consent, the initial score for this outcome was assessed.

Second measurement: POST. Up to 3 months after the first measurement the second measurement of the same variable was carried out.

Between first and second measurement, the control group received the usual psychological attention, whereas the intervention group received the usual psychological attention plus the structured psychological intervention proposed in this study.
Baseline up to 3 months
Change in depression (PRE and POST measures)
Time Frame: Baseline up to 3 months

This variable was assesed with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, HADS.

In order to observe the change in depression, it was measured at two time points:

First measurement: PRE. Once the participant had signed the informed consent, the initial score for this outcome was assessed.

Second measurement: POST. Up to 3 months after the first measurement the second measurement of the same variable was carried out.

Between first and second measurement, the control group received the usual psychological attention, whereas the intervention group received the usual psychological attention plus the structured psychological intervention proposed in this study.
Baseline up to 3 months
Change in burden (PRE and POST measures)
Time Frame: Baseline up to 3 months

This variable was assesed with the Zarit Burden Inventory.

In order to observe the change in burden, it was measured at two time points:

First measurement: PRE. Once the participant had signed the informed consent, the initial score for this outcome was assessed.

Second measurement: POST. Up to 3 months after the first measurement the second measurement of the same variable was carried out.

Between first and second measurement, the control group received the usual psychological attention, whereas the intervention group received the usual psychological attention plus the structured psychological intervention proposed in this study.
Baseline up to 3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Valencia

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Pilar Barreto Martin, PhD, Universitat de València

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)

May 31, 2016

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 31, 2019

Study Completion (Actual)

July 31, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 28, 2019

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 29, 2019

First Posted (Actual)

September 3, 2019

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 3, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 29, 2019

Last Verified

August 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • PSI2010-19426

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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