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Active, Not Recruiting

NCT Number: NCT02732834

Clinician-Patient Communication in Lung Cancer Care

The purpose of this study is to better understand communication between patients with lung cancer and their clinicians. The investigators are also interested in patient's perceptions of the quality of communication with his/her clinician and how these perceptions may impact patient outcomes. The clinician participating in this study and has given us permission to approach his/her eligible patients for study participation.

Active, Not Recruiting

This study is active but is not currently recruiting participants.

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Key information

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

Memorial Sloan Kettering Basking Ridge (Consent and follow-up only), Basking Ridge, New Jersey, United States

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Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Patients with confirmed lung cancer diagnosis or mass suspicious of lung cancer as per clinician report and/or EMR
  • Lung cancer diagnosis or suspicious mass as per clinician report/EMR within 0-6 months of consent or within no more than three visits to participating clinician
  • Participating clinician approves his/her patient's participation in this study per clinician report.
  • Former (at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime and quit more than 30 days prior to enrollment) or current smoker (lifetime smoker who reports cigarette smoking within the past 30 days) as per self report or EMR;
  • English fluency (determined through EMR or clinician report), as we do not have the resources to translate the consultations from other languages or the surveys to other languages;
  • Patients must be 18 years old or older

Clinician Inclusion Criteria:

  • An MSK attending physician (radiologists, medical oncologists, and surgeons), Nurse Practitioner (NP), Physician Assistant (PA), Fellow, Resident or Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) or Clinical Nurse (RN) who is a member of the Thoracic Disease Management Team or Pulmonary Service currently treating thoracic patients at MSK as per self report
  • Clinical has individual clinic consultations to discuss adult health assessment and/or smoking history with the target patient population: English-speaking, at least 18 years of age, has a suspicious lung mass or confirmed diagnosis, is a former/current smoker, has had no more than 3 visits with clinician or had diagnosis in past 6 months as per self-report.

Exclusion criteria

Clinician Exclusion Criteria

  • N/A

Treatment and study plan

Questionnaire

Behavioral

patients will fill out a questionnaire about their perceived stigma, satisfaction with communication, and psychological distress.

Patient interview

Behavioral

Then they will participate in a brief in-person interview about their perceived stigma during the clinical consultation

Audio recordings of clinical consultations

Behavioral

2-hour empathic communication skills training

Behavioral

2-hour empathic communication skills training

Standardized Patient Assessments

Behavioral

pre-training SPA, post-training SPA

Training evaluation

Behavioral

Clinicians will complete an evaluation assessing the empathic communication training module.

Patient recruitment

Behavioral

6 of the clinician's patients (3 pre-training, 3 post-training) will be recruited to complete brief surveys assessing clinician communication

Primary outcomes

  1. Part 1: Systematic coding of clinical encounters and the perceived stigma within the clinical consultation

    Time frame: 1 year

    interview along with patient-reported data from the post-consultation questionnaire will be used.

  2. Part 1: All variables (stigma, satisfaction with communication, psychological distress)

    Time frame: 1 year

    will be measured via post-consultation questionnaires

  3. Part 2: We will pilot test the effectiveness of the empathic communication skills training module

    Time frame: 1 year

    for clinicians: physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, fellows, residents, clinical nurses, and clinical nurse specialists by using the communication skills training module

Secondary outcomes

  1. # of patients referred to MSK's Tobacco Treatment Program (TTP)

    Time frame: 1 year

    will be determined via review of the medical record and/or Tobacco Treatment Program database

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Other

Collaborators

  • Hamad Medical Corporation
  • University of Arizona
  • University of Florida
  • Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2016
Primary completion
2027
Study completion
2027
First posted
Apr 11, 2016
Registry last updated
Feb 5, 2026

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.

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