Clinical trial NCT00312949: Effectiveness of an Interactive Educational Website for Improving the Quality of Mental Health Care for People With Schizophrenia
Official title: Consumer Internet Education About Mental Health Quality
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Schizophrenia
Keywords: Patient participation
Patient education
Consumer involvement
Lead sponsor: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
First posted: 2006-04-11
Enrollment: 56
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 13
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL

Brief summary: This study will evaluate the effectiveness of an interactive educational website in enhancing discussions about treatment issues and improving the quality of care for people with schizophrenia.

Detailed description: Schizophrenia is a disabling mental disorder that causes hallucinations and delusions in those affected by it. Research has proven that certain treatment methods are more effective in treating schizophrenia than others. However, not everyone with schizophrenia responds to treatment in the same way, and not all physicians use the same treatment methods. Educating individuals with schizophrenia about all treatments available instead of only the treatments they are receiving may improve the quality of care and lead to better correlation between treatment and quality standards. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of an interactive educational website in enhancing discussions about treatment issues and improving the congruence between expected quality of treatment and treatment received among people with schizophrenia.

Participants in this open label study will be randomly assigned to either use the interactive website or read written materials and watch a video. All three sources will contain information about evidence-based treatment recommendations. Both groups will complete a brief interview before performing their assigned tasks. Upon completion of the interview, participants in the written materials/video group will be given the reading material and will watch a 20-minute video. Participants in the web-user group will sit with a laptop computer, answer questions about themselves and their treatment, receive feedback on care that may be inconsistent with current recommendations, and receive suggestions on how to discuss this with their physicians. Participants in clinical settings will be asked to allow their next clinician visit to be audiotaped to assess outcomes. A phone interview will be conducted with all participants 2 months following the intervention to assess treatment satisfaction and other outcomes. Medical records will be reviewed to collect treatment information 6 months before and after the intervention.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosis of schizophrenia
* Able to read and write English
* Scheduled to see a participating clinician at one of the study sites

Exclusion Criteria:

* N/A

Primary outcomes:
measure: Concordance of treatment with evidence-based recommendations
timeFrame: Measured at Month 6
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Patient engagement in dialogue with clinician about schizophrenia management issues
timeFrame: Measured at visit immediately following intervention/control condition
measure: Clinician satisfaction with interaction with patient
timeFrame: Measured at visit immediately following intervention/control condition
measure: Patient satisfaction with interaction with clinician
timeFrame: Measured at visit immediately following intervention/control condition and at Month 2 post-intervention
measure: Symptoms of psychosis
timeFrame: Measured at Month 2 post-intervention
measure: Symptoms of depression
timeFrame: Measured at Month 2 post-intervention
measure: Quality of life ratings
timeFrame: Measured at Month 2 post-intervention
measure: Adherence to care regimen
timeFrame: Measured at Month 2 post-intervention
measure: Satisfaction with outcomes of care
timeFrame: Measured at Month 2 post-intervention
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Baltimore
country: United States
facility: Johns Hopkins Hospital
state: Maryland
city: Baltimore
country: United States
facility: Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center
state: Maryland
Study officials:
affiliation: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
name: Donald M. Steinwachs, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: