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Completed

NCT Number: NCT00712569

Physician-Patient Communication About Breast Cancer-Related Internet Information and Its Effect on Patient Satisfaction and Anxiety

The purpose of this study is to learn about how patients who have looked up cancer-related information on the internet talk with their doctors. We are interested in these conversations even if the patients do not think they will talk about the information with their doctor during their visit. We will audio record doctor-patient visits and listen to these recordings to learn about how patients who have looked up cancer-related internet information talk to their doctors and how their doctors talk to them. We will also give patients questionnaires before and after their appointments to learn about what they think about communicating with their doctors.

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Key information

Conditions

Breast Cancer Behavior Breast Diseases Breast Neoplasms Communication Neoplasms Neoplasms by Site Skin Diseases Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases

Age range

21 year and older

Sex eligibility

Female

Study type

Observational

Primary location

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center at Commack, Commack, New York, United States

Loading trial locations.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

Subject Inclusion Criteria for Patients

  • Female
  • Diagnosis of breast cancer
  • Pre-surgery (*for breast surgeon patients only)
  • Report that they have read breast cancer-related internet information since their diagnosis with breast cancer.
  • Provide informed consent

Subject Inclusion Criteria Physicians

  • Breast surgeon or breast medical oncologist
  • Agree to participate in study and one of 10 selected participants
  • Provide inform consent

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria

for Patients

  • Less than 21 years of age
  • Cognitive or physical impairment rendering patients incapable of providing informed consent to participate in the study
  • As the measures and coding system are all written in English, subjects who are not fluent in English will be excluded.

Exclusion criteria

for Physicians

  • None

Treatment and study plan

Questionnaires

Behavioral

Patients in Category 1 are those who report before the visit that they intend to discuss cancer-related internet information and report after the visit that they did discuss such information. The coding of these patients' consultations with their physicians and analysis of their pre- and post-consultation questionnaires will address Aims 1 and 2.

audio recordings , questionnaires

Behavioral

Patients in Category 2 are those who report before the visit that they intend to discuss cancer-related internet information, but report after the visit that they did not discuss such information. This category is important as our previous research indicates that sometimes patients do not discuss information because they feel there is not enough time or because the information is irrelevant or repetitive. These patients' audio recordings will be checked to verify that there was no internet information discussion. These audio recordings will not be coded.

However, assessment of these patients' questionnaires will aid in addressing Aim 3 and may provide some pilot data on why patients who initially intend to discuss internet information do not.

audio recorded questionnaires

Behavioral

Patients in Category 3 are those who report before the visit that they do not intend to discuss cancer-related internet information and do not discuss it. Assessment of these patients' questionnaires will aid in addressing Aim 3. These audio recordings will not be coded. It is important, however, that these consultations be audio recorded for two reasons: First, it allows the physician to remain blinded to the intent of the patient to discuss internet information. Second, it provides a method of verifying that the patient really did not discuss internet information. Although not expected, it is possible for a patient to go into a consultation without intending to discuss internet information, but does end up discussing it. We will note if this occurs.

Primary outcomes

  1. patients in Category 1 (those who have been recorded discussing internet information with their physician) are pt satisfaction & pt anxiety. PT satisfaction with the consultation is an outcome assessed only at the end of the consultation.

    Time frame: conclusion of the study

  2. To examine the effect of physician responses to cancer-related internet information on patient satisfaction and anxiety. (Category 1 patients).

    Time frame: conclusion of study

Secondary outcomes

  1. To identify cancer patients' reasons for not discussing cancer-related internet information with their physicians. (Category 2 and 3 patients).

    Time frame: conclusion of study

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Other

Collaborators

  • National Cancer Institute (NCI)
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2008
Primary completion
2015
Study completion
2015
First posted
Jul 10, 2008
Registry last updated
Feb 6, 2015

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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