Clinical trial NCT00214162: CHESS Caregivers Study: Web-based Support for Informal Caregivers in Cancer
Official title: Web-based Support for Informal Caregivers in Cancer
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Breast Cancer
Prostate Cancer
Lead sponsor: University of Wisconsin, Madison
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
First posted: 2005-09-21
Enrollment: 235
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: Web-Based Support for Informal Caregivers in Cancer Brief Summary (including hypothesis):

Informal caregivers need information, skills and emotional support to address physical, spiritual, and emotional needs associated with chronic illnesses including late stage cancer. Unfortunately, current conditions force clinicians to reduce their interaction time with patients and informal caregivers. Complimentary methods must be developed to provide needed information and support to caregivers. The proposed research will measure and explain the impact of two computer-based support systems that meet caregiver needs and facilitate information exchange with clinicians. The system, CHESS (Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System) is a non-commercial computer system that provides patients with disease specific information, emotional support and skill building tools. In the expanded form to be tested in this study, CHESS with Caregiver Support (CGCHESS) will also provide the caregiver with more information, support and skills training related to palliative care. CGCHESS will be further enhanced to communicate essential patient and caregiver information to clinicians prior to a scheduled clinic visit and when patient symptoms exceed a threshold.

The investigators' primary hypothesis is that CGCHESS + Clinician Report (CR) will reduce caregiver burden more than CGCHESS because of the additional support caregivers and patients receive from clinicians who have access to the CHESS clinician report. Secondary analyses will study the mechanisms of the CHESS effect. Specifically the investigators anticipate that the CHESS effect on caregivers will be mediated by the CHESS effect on interaction patterns with clinicians, satisfaction with clinical visits and by the CHESS effect on four patient outcomes (quality of life, negative affect, average severity of nine common late-stage cancers).


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Metastatic breast or prostate cancer patients and their primary caregivers

Exclusion Criteria:

* Cannot be homeless

Primary outcomes:
measure: Improve caregiver burden
timeFrame: every 2 months
measure: Improve affect, coping, self-efficacy and information competence
timeFrame: every 2 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Mechanisms of CHESS effects
timeFrame: every 2 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Madison
country: United States
facility: University of Wisconsin
state: Wisconsin
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Wisconsin, Madison
name: David Gustafson, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: DuBenske LL, Burke Beckjord E, Hawkins RP, Gustafson DH. Psychometric evaluation of the Health Information Orientation Scale: a brief measure for assessing health information engagement and apprehension. J Health Psychol. 2009 Sep;14(6):721-30. doi: 10.1177/1359105309338892.
citation: DuBenske LL, Gustafson DH, Shaw BR, Cleary JF. Web-based cancer communication and decision making systems: connecting patients, caregivers, and clinicians for improved health outcomes. Med Decis Making. 2010 Nov-Dec;30(6):732-44. doi: 10.1177/0272989X10386382. Epub 2010 Nov 1.
citation: Wen KY, Gustafson DH. Needs assessment for cancer patients and their families. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2004 Feb 26;2:11. doi: 10.1186/1477-7525-2-11.
citation: Dubenske LL, Chih MY, Dinauer S, Gustafson DH, Cleary JF. Development and implementation of a clinician reporting system for advanced stage cancer: initial lessons learned. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2008 Sep-Oct;15(5):679-86. doi: 10.1197/jamia.M2532. Epub 2008 Jun 25.
citation: DuBenske LL, Chih MY, Gustafson DH, Dinauer S, Cleary JF. Caregivers' participation in the oncology clinic visit mediates the relationship between their information competence and their need fulfillment and clinic visit satisfaction. Patient Educ Couns. 2010 Dec;81 Suppl:S94-9. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2010.08.022. Epub 2010 Sep 28.
citation: Gustafson DH, DuBenske LL, Atwood AK, Chih MY, Johnson RA, McTavish F, Quanbeck A, Brown RL, Cleary JF, Shah D. Reducing Symptom Distress in Patients With Advanced Cancer Using an e-Alert System for Caregivers: Pooled Analysis of Two Randomized Clinical Trials. J Med Internet Res. 2017 Nov 14;19(11):e354. doi: 10.2196/jmir.7466.
citation: Chih MY, DuBenske LL, Hawkins RP, Brown RL, Dinauer SK, Cleary JF, Gustafson DH. Communicating advanced cancer patients' symptoms via the Internet: a pooled analysis of two randomized trials examining caregiver preparedness, physical burden, and negative mood. Palliat Med. 2013 Jun;27(6):533-43. doi: 10.1177/0269216312457213. Epub 2012 Sep 17.