Clinical trial NCT02542332: Are Doctors Familiar With the Test Characteristics of Lung Cancer Screening?
Official title: Are Doctors Familiar With the Test Characteristics of Lung Cancer Screening?
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Information About the Knowledge on the Statistical Background of Lung Cancer Screening of Doctors
Keywords: lung cancer screening
statistical background
Lead sponsor: Otto Wagner Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2015-09-07
Enrollment: 556
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Brief summary: This study evaluates whether doctors are familiar with the statistical background of lung cancer screening.

Detailed description: Background: Screening with low-dose CT scan can prevent three deaths due to lung cancer among 1000 high-risk individuals. However, false-positive results and radiation exposure are relevant disadvantages deserving accurate consideration. Candidates for screening can only make an autonomous decision if doctors inform them correctly about the pros and cons of the method. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate, whether doctors understand the test characteristics of lung cancer screening.

Methods: In a randomized trial, 556 doctors (members of the Austrian Respiratory Society) will be invited to answer questions regarding lung cancer screening based on online case vignettes. Half of the participants will be randomized to the group 'with data' and will receive the correct solutions in advance. The group 'without data' will have to rely on prior knowledge or estimate. Primary endpoint will be the between-groups difference in the estimated number of deaths preventable by screening. Secondary endpoints will be the between-groups differences in prevalence of lung cancer, prevalence of suspicious results, sensitivity, specificity, positive-predictive value, and false negative rate. Estimations will also be compared to actual values from the literature.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Doctors, who were in training or had a completed specialization training in:
* Pneumonology
* Internal Medicine
* Surgery
* or Radiology

Exclusion Criteria:

* Doctors, with a specialized training in
* ENT
* Pediatrics
* Pathology and doctors who had no e-mail address were excluded.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Between-groups difference in the estimated reduction of mortality due to lung cancer screening
timeFrame: 14 days
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Between-groups difference prevalence of lung cancer
timeFrame: 14 days
measure: Between-groups difference in sensitivity of lung cancer screening
timeFrame: 14 days
measure: Between-groups difference in the frequency of a positive test result
timeFrame: 14 days
measure: Between-groups difference in specificity of lung cancer screening
timeFrame: 14 days
measure: Between-groups difference in positive predictive value of lung cancer screening
timeFrame: 14 days
measure: Between-groups difference in the false negative rate of lung cancer screening
timeFrame: 14 days
Other outcomes:
Locations:
Study officials:
affiliation: Otto Wagner Hospital
name: Georg-Christian Funk, Assoc.Prof.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
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