The MuSt-PC: a Feasibility Study on Intent to Use a Tool With Regard to Symptom Management

The MuSt-PC: A Multidimensional Strategy to Improve Quality of Life of Patients With Multiple Symptoms and Palliative Care Needs - Feasibility Study

A study on the intent to use a tool (MuSt-PC) to manage symptoms of patients in a palliative care trajectory.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Palliative Medicine
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Survey

Detailed Description

A survey study will be conducted to evaluate if GHCPs have the Intention to Use (IU) MuSt- PC in daily practice. GHCPs are recruited via the connections of the seven Centers of Expertise in Palliative Care. To invite them to participate in the study, the GHCPs are approached directly via e-mail or telephone. Participating GHCPs will be educated on how to use MuSt-PC (educational materials and instruction webinar). GHCPs will be asked to use the CDSS for five individual patients. Every time after using MuSt-PC they will be asked to answer additional questions about their experience with using MuSt-PC in that specific instance. After using MuSt-PC for five patients, they are requested to fill out a comprehensive questionnaire about their overall experiences with using the CDSS.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 70

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Netherlands
  • Groningen, Netherlands
    • University Medical Center Groningen
  • Leiden, Netherlands
    • LUMC

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

A targeted sample of healthcare providers (HCPs) who are not specialized in palliative care (GHCPs) constitutes the study population.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Residents (in Dutch: Arts In Opleiding tot Specialist (AIOS) or Arts Niet In Opleiding tot Specialist (ANIOS)), medical specialists and nurse practitioners working in the following disciplines are invited to participate:

• General practice
• Nursing home

• Hospital:

  • Clinical geriatrics
  • Medical oncology
  • Radiation oncology
  • Pulmonology
  • Cardiology

Exclusion Criteria:

HCPs who were formally trained in palliative care ("kaderopleiding palliatieve zorg", "Masteropleiding Palliative Medicine for Health Care Professionals at Cardiff University" or "post-HBO opleiding palliatieve zorg") and/or who have been or are currently a consultant of a palliative care consultation team are considered specialists in palliative care, are excluded from participation.

GHCPs (e.g. nurses) who cannot independently decide about CDSS recommendation adherence, including drug interventions, are excluded from participation.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Arm 1; A targeted sample of healthcare providers (HCPs) who are not specialized in palliative care (GHCPs) constitutes the study population.	Other: Survey; A survey study will be conducted to evaluate if GHCPs have the Intention to Use (IU) MuSt-PC in daily practice.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Questions evaluating Intention to Use (IU)	Questions evaluating Intention to Use (IU) (7-point Likert scales)	after 5 times use of the MuSt-PC tool within 3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Questions evaluating other modified TAM domains	Questions evaluating other modified TAM domains: Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease-of-Use, Attitude, Compatibility, Subjective norm, Facilitators, Habit (7-point Likert Scales).	after 5 times use of the MuSt-PC tool within 3 months
Perceived benefits and disadvantages of using MuSt-PC	Perceived benefits and disadvantages of using MuSt-PC (open-ended questions).	after 5 times use within 3 months
Suggestions to improve the MuSt-PC CDSS	Suggestions to improve the MuSt-PC CDSS (open-ended question).	after 5 times of the MuSt-PC tool within 3 months
An overview of the content of questions of participating GHCPs regarding MuSt-PC use.	An overview of the content of questions of participating GHCPs regarding MuSt-PC use. Questions will be analyzed qualitatively; coding will be done independently by two researchers. In case of disagreement, consensus will be achieved through discussion. Coding will result in categorization of question subject. Categorizations are ranked from most prevalent to least prevalent question subject (proportion of respondents).	after 5 times use within 3 months
Most useful elements of MuSt-PC will be evaluated with a multiple-choice question.	Most useful elements of MuSt-PC will be evaluated with a multiple-choice question. (multiple answers allowed) Frequency and percentage of total respondents who chose the multiple choice answer possibilities will be evaluated	after 5 times use within 3 months
Mean scores of HCPs adherence to CDSS recommendations	Mean scores (5-point Likert scale) of HCPs adherence to CDSS recommendations (each time using MuSt-PC)	after 5 times use of the MuSt-PC tool within 3 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
A focus group meeting will be conducted if ≥20% of all participating GHCPs have insufficient intention to use MuSt-PC and/or perceive MuSt-PC insufficiently useful and/or perceive MuSt-PC insufficiently easy to use	A focus group meeting will be conducted if ≥20% of all participating GHCPs have insufficient intention to use MuSt-PC and/or perceive MuSt-PC insufficiently useful and/or perceive MuSt-PC insufficiently easy to use: Insufficient IU is defined as a sum score of ≤12 for the 3 questions that measure Intention to Use by the modified TAM questionnaire (maximum sum score 21); Insufficient PU is defined as a sum score of ≤24 for the 6 questions that measure PU by the modified TAM questionnaire (maximum sum score 42); insufficient PEU is defined as a sum score of ≤24 for the 6 items that measure PEU by the modified TAM questionnaire (maximum sum score 42). (see Appendix G) Six to twelve GHCPs with a sum score of ≤12 (IU) and/or ≤24 (PU and/or PEU) will be invited to participate.	after 5 times use of the MuSt-PC tool within 3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Medical Center Groningen
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: An KL Reyners, MD, PhD, University Medical Center Groningen

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 18, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 28, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): February 28, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 7, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 24, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): October 31, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 20, 2025
• Last Verified: October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation; Investigative Techniques; Epidemiologic Methods; Data Collection; Health Care Evaluation Mechanisms; Quality of Health Care; Public Health; Environment and Public Health; Surveys and Questionnaires
• Other Study ID Numbers: 11265

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No