Assessing the Patient Experience in Cancer Care

Communication is an important component of comprehensive cancer care impacting patient satisfaction, adherence, and quality of life. The wide array of issues addressed in cancer clinical interactions makes communicating about a broad range of topics (including quality of life, communication, symptom control, complementary/alternative therapies, costs, treatment burden, prognosis, anxiety, side-effects, sexual function, palliative care options, etc.) especially interesting and potentially challenging. Some of these topics may not be routinely addressed in the clinical interaction or may require consultative support from other members of the comprehensive cancer care team. One frequently overlooked critical element in research on communication between cancer clinicians, their patients, and their primary care clinicians is describing real-time consultations between patients and their clinicians. These interactions provide rich material for assessing key psycho-social dynamics and identifying issues that patients find important in their care. In order to devise systems of care that optimize the patient experience, it is critical that clinicians and researchers understand, appreciate, and systematically characterize the richness and complexity of the decision-making process in routine cancer consultations between cancer patients and their treating clinicians. This study seeks to assess the patient experience in cancer care by observing patients and their physicians in their clinical interactions and following them for several months to see how their care went. By describing in-depth the conversations and experiences of patients in these clinical interactions, this study will lay the foundation for practice-based interventions to optimize patients' interactions with their cancer care teams.

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Key information

Conditions

Brain Neoplasm Brain Diseases Brain Neoplasms Breast Diseases Breast Neoplasm Breast Neoplasms Central Nervous System Diseases Central Nervous System Neoplasms Digestive System Diseases Digestive System Neoplasms Endocrine Gland Neoplasm Endocrine Gland Neoplasms Endocrine System Diseases Female Urogenital Diseases Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications Gastrointestinal Diseases Gastrointestinal Neoplasm Gastrointestinal Neoplasms Genitourinary Neoplasm Gynecological Neoplasm Head and Neck Neoplasm Head and Neck Neoplasms Lung Diseases Lung Neoplasm Lung Neoplasms Male Urogenital Diseases Melanoma Neoplasms Neoplasms by Histologic Type Neoplasms by Site Neoplasms, Connective and Soft Tissue Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal Neoplasms, Nerve Tissue Nervous System Diseases Nervous System Neoplasms Neuroectodermal Tumors Neuroendocrine Tumors Nevi and Melanomas Respiratory Tract Diseases Respiratory Tract Neoplasms Sarcoma Skin Diseases Skin Neoplasms Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases Thoracic Neoplasms Urogenital Diseases Urogenital Neoplasms

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

Los Angeles County Hospital, Los Angeles, California, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Age greater than or equal to 18 years
Histological confirmation of: brain, breast, endocrine, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, gynecological, head/neck, lung, melanoma, or sarcoma malignancies.
Speak English or Spanish
Not enrolled in hospice
In any of the following phases of the cancer control continuum: initial diagnosis, initial treatment, early survivorship, or recurrence.
Provide written informed consent

Exclusion criteria

Treatment and study plan

Primary outcomes

Frequency/duration/content of routine cancer consultations surrounding key topics in the clinical dialogue.

Time frame: Time of enrollment through completion of 3 month follow-up survey

Key topics to be studied include: quality of life, complementary and alternative therapies, psycho-social characteristics, patient-clinician dynamics, health literacy

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Mayo Clinic

Other

Collaborators

Johns Hopkins University
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
University of Southern California

Registry information

Official study title

Assessing the Patient Experience in Cancer Care: An Observational Communication Study

Important dates

Study start: 2012
Primary completion: 2015
Study completion: 2015
First posted: Jun 18, 2012
Registry last updated: Jan 20, 2016

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.

Completed