Humanistic Continuing Care Via WeChat for Patients Undergoing Thermal Ablation of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

December 11, 2025 updated by: Ming-an Yu

The goal of this clinical trial is to test whether human-centered nursing care lowers emotional distress and improves quality of life for people who are awake during thyroid thermal ablation. The procedure uses local anesthesia, so participants remain awake and may feel tense. Human-centered care focuses on emotional support, clear communication, comfort, and follow-up, and it may improve the experience and recovery for patients.

The main questions are:

Does human-centered nursing care reduce emotional distress levels in patients undergoing thyroid thermal ablation?

Does human-centered nursing care improve patient quality of life after thyroid thermal ablation?

If there is a comparison group: Researchers will compare human-centered nursing care to usual nursing care to see if human-centered care leads to lower emotional distress and higher quality of life.

Participants will:

Receive either human-centered nursing care or usual nursing care.

Complete questionnaires before, during, and after the procedure to measure emotional distress, quality of life, pain, and satisfaction with care.

Have their vital signs and quality of life tracked during and after the procedure.

Have their adherence to care plans and any complications monitored.

The main outcomes are emotional distress levels and quality of life. Other outcomes include pain and vital signs during the procedure, satisfaction with care, and complication rates. Results may guide better care for people undergoing small, minimally invasive treatments while awake.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

108

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 Contact

Study Locations

  • China
      • Beijing, China
        • Recruiting
        • China-Japan Friendship Hospital
        • Contact:
        • Contact:

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

  • Child
  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 16-60 years; scheduled for thyroid thermal ablation
  • Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC)
  • Number of target lesions <= 3
  • Largest lesion diameter <= 2 cm; clinical stage T1N0M0 by imaging
  • Awake and able to cooperate under local anesthesia

Owns a smartphone and can use WeChat

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Serious medical comorbidities or cognitive impairment that precludes participation
  • Prior thyroid surgery or thermal ablation
  • Unwilling or unable to join the WeChat group or complete postoperative follow-up

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
Experimental: Humanistic Continuing Care via WeChat
Behavioral: Humanistic Continuing Care via WeChat

Description: Structured, humanistic peri-operative nursing program delivered through WeChat in addition to routine care. Components: pre-procedure needs assessment and expectation setting; brief coping skills coaching (e.g., paced breathing); intra-procedure step-by-step explanations, reassurance, and comfort measures; post-procedure education, recovery guidance, and psychosocial support; symptom monitoring with red-flag escalation; medication/wound-care and appointment reminders; on-demand messaging during service hours; optional caregiver engagement.

Delivery & Schedule: Nurse-led. One pre-procedure session; intra-procedure support on the day of ablation; post-procedure WeChat check-ins at least weekly plus on-demand messaging for 12 weeks. Fidelity tracked via standardized checklists.

Arm(s): Experimental - Humanistic Continuing Care via WeChat.
Active Comparator: Usual Care (No Structured WeChat Program)
Procedure: Usual Care (No Structured WeChat Program)
Participants receive standard peri-operative nursing and institutional discharge materials, including routine pre-procedure counseling, standard intra-procedure monitoring, printed/posted instructions for home care, and follow-up per usual practice (e.g., clinic visit or routine phone call). They may contact the clinic using standard channels as needed, but there is no scheduled, structured WeChat outreach or humanistic continuing-care protocol.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Change in emotion distress from baseline to post-procedure (HADS)
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 3 months
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 3 months
Change in the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 scores from baseline to 3 months
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 3 months
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 3 months
Change in Thyroid Cancer-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire scores from baseline to 3 months
Time Frame: From enrollment to 3 months after end of treatment
From enrollment to 3 months after end of treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Intraoperative pain intensity (Visual Analog Scale)
Time Frame: Intraoperative period (during the procedure)
Pain intensity during the procedure will be assessed using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS; 0-100 mm, where 0 indicates no pain and 10 indicates the worst imaginable pain). A single VAS score will be recorded during the intraoperative period.
Intraoperative period (during the procedure)
Patient satisfaction with nursing care (Newcastle Satisfaction with Nursing Scale, NSNS)
Time Frame: Postoperative Day 1
Postoperative Day 1

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Ming-an Yu

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 (Estimated)

December 15, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 30, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 29, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 11, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

December 24, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

December 24, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 11, 2025

Last Verified

December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2509008

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

IPD Plan Description

Undecided at this time; a final decision about IPD sharing will be made after publication in consultation with the institution's data governance and ethics committees.

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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