AzTrials
AzTrials

CancerNCT01964222

Health Literacy Intervention for Informed Consent of Cancer Patients Considering Clinical Trial Participation

A study testing Decision Aid (DA) in people with Cancer, run by Washington University School of Medicine at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
Search all trials

Trial summary

This study will update an existing health literacy intervention (decision aid) for informed consent procedures and then conduct a randomized experiment implementing the health literacy intervention at Siteman Cancer Center and evaluate its effectiveness compared to usual care. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Cancer
What is being tested?
Decision Aid (DA)
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
201 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
May 2014to Jul 2015
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Diagnosed with cancer in the past 6 months
  • English speaking
  • At least 18 years old

Who cannot join

  • Past participation in a clinical trial for treatment

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • Siteman Cancer Center

    St Louis, Missouri, 63110

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: A Mixed Methods Study to Reduce Disparities in Cancer Clinical Trials by Adapting a Health Literacy Intervention for Informed Consent and Comparing it to Usual Care in a Randomized Experiment

This study will update an existing health literacy intervention (decision aid) for informed consent procedures and then conduct a randomized experiment implementing the health literacy intervention at Siteman Cancer Center and evaluate its effectiveness compared to usual care. Our hypothesis is that implementing the targeted, web-based decision aid (DA) in addition to usual care will increase knowledge about cancer clinical trials. Secondary outcomes include patients' ability to communicate with health care providers about trials, willingness to participate in trials, and enrollment rates for minority participants.

Read the detailed description

A previously developed and pilot tested web-based decision aid (DA) based on best practices in health literacy that is well received by minority participants and significantly improved knowledge about cancer clinical trials and decision self-efficacy will be used. This study will expand the reach of the DA and test it in a larger study in a different geographic region and center (Siteman Cancer Center). An additional benefit of conducting this work at Siteman Cancer Center is that Siteman and the Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities (PECaD) already institute structural changes at the system level to improve minority participation in trials. This study will activate and educate patients and will complement the system-level interventions.

By random 1:1 assignment, 180 participants will either receive:

*Targeted, web-based decision aid (DA) about participating in cancer clinical trials.

or

*Usual care/control-Access to the Siteman Cancer Center website about clinical trials.

Outcomes from the DA group will be compared to outcomes in a usual care/control group.

Conditions
Cancer
Being tested
Decision Aid (DA)
Keywords
Cancer, Clinical trials, Informed consent, Health literacy
Medical subject headings
Neoplasms

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Decision Aid (DA)Behavioural

    Participants will be shown (on a computer) a targeted, web-based decision aid focused on the topic of clinical trials in addition to usual care.

Study groups in NCT01964222
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Decision Aid (DA)ExperimentalThe decision aid (DA) will be provided to patients randomized to the experimental/intervention group.
Receives: Behavioral: Decision Aid (DA)
ControlNo interventionParticipants randomized to the control group will receive usual care and will be shown Siteman Cancer Center website about clinical trials.

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Knowledge About Cancer Clinical Trials

    A questionnaire will be administered to assess outcomes of interest immediately after showing the participant either the decision aid (DA) about clinical trials or the Siteman Cancer Center website about clinical trials. The questionnaire will include eleven knowledge items such as "Only very sick patients are asked to take part in a cancer research study" and "Cancer research studies almost never involve the use of a placebo or sugar pill alone". Participants will indicate each item as "True", "False", or "I don't know". An overall knowledge composite score will be created with the average percentage of items participants in each condition correctly answer. Participation in study concludes upon completion of questionnaire.

    Measured: 1 day (Immediately following either showing the participant the experimental or control information (same day)

  2. Clarity of Values

    A questionnaire will be administered to assess outcomes of interest immediately after showing the participant either the decision aid (DA) about clinical trials or the Siteman Cancer Center website about clinical trials. The questionnaire will include the Values Clarity Subscale to evaluate decisional conflict. The subscale includes two items from the ten-item Low Literacy Decisional Conflict Scale, each with three response categories. The combined score on the two items will be divided by 2 and multiplied by 25 to produce an overall "values clarity" score from 0 to 100. Higher values represent less clarity. Participation in study concludes upon completion of questionnaire.

    Measured: 1 day (Immediately following either showing the participant the experimental or control information (same day)

  3. Uncertainty in Choice

    A questionnaire will be administered to assess outcomes of interest immediately after showing the participant either the decision aid (DA) about clinical trials or the Siteman Cancer Center website about clinical trials. The questionnaire will include the Uncertainty Subscale to evaluate decisional conflict. The subscale includes two items from the ten-item Low Literacy Decisional Conflict Scale, each with three response categories. The combined score on the two items will be divided by 2 and multiplied by 25 to produce an overall "uncertainty" score from 0 to 100. Higher values represent more uncertainty. Participation in study concludes upon completion of questionnaire.

    Measured: 1 day Immediately following either showing the participant the experimental or control information (same day)

Secondary outcomes (2)
  1. Self-efficacy for Communicating About Cancer Clinical Trials

    A questionnaire will be administered to assess outcomes of interest immediately after showing the participant either the decision aid (DA) about clinical trials or the Siteman Cancer Center website about clinical trials. The questionnaire will include an item in which participants rank their self-efficacy for finding information about cancer clinical trials on a 5-point scale with higher numbers indicating greater self-efficacy. Participation in study concludes upon completion of questionnaire.

    Measured: 1 day (Immediately following either showing the participant the experimental or control information (same day)

  2. Attitudes About Cancer Clinical Trials

    A questionnaire will be administered to assess outcomes of interest immediately after showing the participant either the decision aid (DA) about clinical trials or the Siteman Cancer Center website about clinical trials. The questionnaire will include two items in which participants rank their intent to participate in a cancer clinical trial and their intent to encourage others to participate in a cancer clinical trial on a 5-point scale with higher numbers indicating greater intent. Participation in study concludes upon completion of questionnaire.

    Measured: 1 day (Immediately following either showing the participant the experimental or control information (same day)

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted17 Oct 2013 (estimated)
  2. Study startMay 2014
  3. Primary completionMay 2015
  4. Study completionJul 2015

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
201 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT01964222
Sponsor's protocol ID
201309076
Status last verified
Nov 2015
First submitted
7 Oct 2013
Last updated
7 Dec 2015
Data monitoring committee
Yes

Publications

  • Murthy VH, Krumholz HM, Gross CP. Participation in cancer clinical trials: race-, sex-, and age-based disparities. JAMA. 2004 Jun 9;291(22):2720-6. doi: 10.1001/jama.291.22.2720.

    PubMed 15187053
  • Janet Yang Z, McComas K, Gay G, Leonard JP, Dannenberg AJ, Dillon H. From information processing to behavioral intentions: exploring cancer patients' motivations for clinical trial enrollment. Patient Educ Couns. 2010 May;79(2):231-8. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2009.08.010. Epub 2009 Sep 11.

    PubMed 19748204
  • Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Assessing the System for Protecting Human Research Participants; Federman DD, Hanna KE, Rodriguez LL, editors. Responsible Research: A Systems Approach to Protecting Research Participants. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2002. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK43563/

    PubMed 20669487
  • Silverman H, Hull SC, Sugarman J. Variability among institutional review boards' decisions within the context of a multicenter trial. Crit Care Med. 2001 Feb;29(2):235-41. doi: 10.1097/00003246-200102000-00002.

    PubMed 11246299
  • McNutt LA, Waltermaurer E, Bednarczyk RA, Carlson BE, Kotval J, McCauley J, Campbell JC, Ford DE. Are We Misjudging How Well Informed Consent Forms are Read? J Empir Res Hum Res Ethics. 2008 Mar;3(1):89-97. doi: 10.1525/jer.2008.3.1.89.

    PubMed 19385786
  • Grossman SA, Piantadosi S, Covahey C. Are informed consent forms that describe clinical oncology research protocols readable by most patients and their families? J Clin Oncol. 1994 Oct;12(10):2211-5. doi: 10.1200/JCO.1994.12.10.2211.

    PubMed 7931491
  • Corbie-Smith G, Thomas SB, Williams MV, Moody-Ayers S. Attitudes and beliefs of African Americans toward participation in medical research. J Gen Intern Med. 1999 Sep;14(9):537-46. doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.1999.07048.x.

    PubMed 10491242
  • Featherstone K, Donovan JL. Random allocation or allocation at random? Patients' perspectives of participation in a randomised controlled trial. BMJ. 1998 Oct 31;317(7167):1177-80. doi: 10.1136/bmj.317.7167.1177.

    PubMed 9794849
  • Joffe S, Cook EF, Cleary PD, Clark JW, Weeks JC. Quality of informed consent in cancer clinical trials: a cross-sectional survey. Lancet. 2001 Nov 24;358(9295):1772-7. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(01)06805-2.

    PubMed 11734235
  • Dresden GM, Levitt MA. Modifying a standard industry clinical trial consent form improves patient information retention as part of the informed consent process. Acad Emerg Med. 2001 Mar;8(3):246-52. doi: 10.1111/j.1553-2712.2001.tb01300.x.

    PubMed 11229946
  • Young DR, Hooker DT, Freeberg FE. Informed consent documents: increasing comprehension by reducing reading level. IRB. 1990 May-Jun;12(3):1-5. No abstract available.

    PubMed 11651387
  • Krumholz HM. Informed consent to promote patient-centered care. JAMA. 2010 Mar 24;303(12):1190-1. doi: 10.1001/jama.2010.309. No abstract available.

    PubMed 20332406
  • Coyne CA, Xu R, Raich P, Plomer K, Dignan M, Wenzel LB, Fairclough D, Habermann T, Schnell L, Quella S, Cella D; Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. Randomized, controlled trial of an easy-to-read informed consent statement for clinical trial participation: a study of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. J Clin Oncol. 2003 Mar 1;21(5):836-42. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2003.07.022.

    PubMed 12610182
  • Davis TC, Holcombe RF, Berkel HJ, Pramanik S, Divers SG. Informed consent for clinical trials: a comparative study of standard versus simplified forms. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1998 May 6;90(9):668-74. doi: 10.1093/jnci/90.9.668.

    PubMed 9586663
  • Flory J, Emanuel E. Interventions to improve research participants' understanding in informed consent for research: a systematic review. JAMA. 2004 Oct 6;292(13):1593-601. doi: 10.1001/jama.292.13.1593.

    PubMed 15467062

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Decision Aid (DA) in people with Cancer, run by Washington University School of Medicine at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 7 Dec 2015. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 7 Dec 2015). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Knowledge About Cancer Clinical Trials (time frame: 1 day (Immediately following either showing the participant the experimental or control information (same day)). The study lists 3 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT01964222, which also lists 20 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 7 Dec 2015; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 8 Nov 2026.

Free account

Log in to keep searching

You’ve used your 3 free searches. AzTrials is free: log in or create a free account to keep searching clinical trials and save the ones you want to follow.

Create a free accountLog in