AzTrials
AzTrials

Premature BirthNCT04850794

Evaluation of an Interdisciplinary Decision Guide for Infant Feeding Assessment

A study testing Decision Support Tool in people with Premature Birth and Feeding and Eating Disorders of Childhood, run by University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Preterm infants are at risk for feeding problems which can persist through early childhood. These feeding problems may include oral motor, sensory, digestive, nutritional, respiratory, and/or behavioral components. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
What is being tested?
Decision Support Tool
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
56 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
14 Jul 2021to 8 Feb 2022
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 years and older
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • at least 18 years of age,
  • speech language pathologist or occupational therapist,
  • at least 2 years of experience evaluating and treating pediatric feeding,
  • have worked in early intervention in last 5 years,
  • English proficiency,
  • currently reside in North Carolina

Who cannot join

  • <2 years of experience in pediatric feeding,
  • have not worked in Early Intervention in last 5 years,
  • younger than 18 years old

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

    Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27516

Other trials in United States

About this study

Preterm infants are at risk for feeding problems which can persist through early childhood. These feeding problems may include oral motor, sensory, digestive, nutritional, respiratory, and/or behavioral components. In North Carolina's early intervention program, speech pathologists or occupational therapists are responsible for completing feeding evaluations, and may not know when to refer infants out to medical specialists to address these other domains. This study will test a decision support tool in hypothetical feeding evaluation scenarios. The hypothetical scenarios will consist of real feeding videos of preterm infants who recently participated in a multidisciplinary feeding evaluation. Parent-reported outcomes of the infant's real evaluation will be compared to those of the speech pathologists and occupational therapists in our study who do, and do not, use the decision support tool. The investigators hypothesize that therapists with the tool will make recommendations that are closer to those of the multidisciplinary team, and that they will find the tool useful and easy to use.

Due to recruitment limitations with families, the study was adapted in October, 2021 prior to enrollment of subjects to use case studies, rather than infant videos, as the hypothetical situation from which to test the tool. Therapists will then answer clinical questions without using the tool when viewing the first case study, and will use the tool to answer questions when viewing the second case study. Order of case study presentation will be randomized among participants.

Being tested
Decision Support Tool
Keywords
early intervention, pediatric feeding, assessment
Medical subject headings
Premature Birth, Feeding and Eating Disorders of Childhood

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Decision Support ToolBehavioural

    The decision support tool is an observational checklist with recommendations for specific specialist referrals based on what the provider observed during the feeding evaluation.

Study groups in NCT04850794
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Case A then Case BExperimentalParticipant will first review and answer questions about Case A without using the tool. Then, they will use the tool to answer questions about case B.
Receives: Behavioral: Decision Support Tool
Case B then Case AExperimentalParticipant will first review and answer questions about Case B without using the tool. Then, they will use the tool to answer questions about case A.
Receives: Behavioral: Decision Support Tool

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Number of Participants That Recommend Feeding Therapy

    After reading a feeding case study, early intervention professionals will answer the question "Would you recommend feeding therapy?" with two choices: yes or no. Difference in agreement between early intervention professionals using the decision support tool and those not will be calculated and compared for cases A and B.

    Measured: Immediately after reading feeding case study, within approximately 5 minutes

  2. Number of Participants That Recommend Referral to Other Providers

    After reading a feeding case study, early intervention professionals will answer the question "Would you refer this family to any other providers/specialists for evaluation/treatment?" with two answer choices: yes or no. Difference in agreement between early intervention professionals using the decision support tool and those not will be calculated and compared for cases A and B.

    Measured: Immediately after reading feeding case study, within approximately 5 minutes

  3. Number of Participants That Recommend Referral by Specialty

    After reading the feeding case study, early intervention professionals will answer the question "What other professionals would you refer this child to? Check all that apply." with the following choices: nutritionist/dietician, gastroenterologist, otolaryngologist (ENT), aerodigestive clinic, pulmonologist, occupational therapist, speech language pathologist, psychologist/social worker, applied behavior analyst (ABA), or allergist. Difference in agreement between early intervention professionals using the decision support tool and those not will be calculated and compared for cases A and B.

    Measured: Immediately after reading feeding case study, within approximately 5 minutes

Secondary outcomes (5)
  1. Number of Participants That Recommend Feeding Therapy Categorized by Number of Times Per Week

    After reading the feeding case study, early intervention professionals who recommended feeding therapy will answer the question "With what frequency would you recommend therapy?" with three choices: 2 times per week or more, 1 time per week, less than one time per week. Difference in agreement between early intervention professionals using the decision support tool and those not will be calculated and compared for cases A and B.

    Measured: Immediately after reading feeding case study, within approximately 5 minutes

  2. Number of Participants That Recommend Intervention Target Choices

    After reading the feeding case study, early intervention professionals who recommended feeding therapy will answer the question "What therapy targets might you include for this child?" and may check all that apply from the following choices: oral motor skills, sensory, behavioral, medication, modification of food/liquid, modification of equipment (seating, utensils, etc.), modification of environment (location, distractions, routine, etc.), parent coaching, or other. Difference in agreement between early intervention professionals using the decision support tool and those not will be calculated and compared for cases A and B.

    Measured: Immediately after reading feeding case study, within approximately 5 minutes

  3. Decision Support Tool Acceptability Score

    The Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM) will be used to measure acceptability of the decision support tool. This tool includes four items, rated on a five-point Likert scale from completely disagree to completely agree, and will be quantified with a score of 0 for completely disagree, 1 for disagree, 2 for neither agree nor disagree, 3 for agree, and 4 for completely agree. The average score across the four items will be calculated, with higher scores indicating higher acceptability of the decision making tool. The minimum score is 0 and the maximum score is 4. Items on this measure include: (Intervention) meets my approval; (Intervention) is appealing to me; I like (Intervention) and I welcome (Intervention).

    Measured: Immediately after using tool, within approximately 5 minutes

  4. Decision Support Tool Appropriateness Score.

    The Intervention Appropriateness Measure (IAM) will be used to measure appropriateness of the decision support tool. This tool includes four items, rated on a five-point Likert scale from completely disagree to completely agree, and will be quantified with a score of 0 for completely disagree, 1 for disagree, 2 for neither agree nor disagree, 3 for agree, and 4 for completely agree. The average score across the four items will be calculated, with higher scores indicating higher acceptability of the decision making tool. The minimum score is 0 and the maximum score is 4. Items on this measure include: (Intervention) seems fitting; (Intervention) seems suitable; (Intervention) seems applicable; (Intervention) seems like a good match.

    Measured: Immediately after using tool, within approximately 5 minutes

  5. Decision Support Tool Feasibility Score.

    The Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM) will be used to measure feasibility of use of the decision support tool. This tool includes four items, rated on a five-point Likert scale from completely disagree to completely agree, and will be quantified with a score of 0 for completely disagree, 1 for disagree, 2 for neither agree nor disagree, 3 for agree, and 4 for completely agree. The average score across the four items will be calculated, with higher scores indicating higher acceptability of the decision making tool. The minimum score is 0 and the maximum score is 4. Items on this measure include: (Intervention) seems implementable; (Intervention) seems possible; (Intervention) seems doable; (Intervention) seems easy to use.

    Measured: Immediately after using tool, within approximately 5 minutes

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted20 Apr 2021
  2. Study start14 Jul 2021
  3. Primary completion7 Feb 2022
  4. Study completion8 Feb 2022

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Screening
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Crossover
Model description
Therapists will answer clinical questions about a case study (A or B, randomized order of presentation) without using the tool. They will then be presented with the tool and will answer the same clinical questions about a second case study (A or B, randomized order of presentation)
Masking
Single blind
Who is masked
Care provider
Enrolment
56 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT04850794
Sponsor's protocol ID
20-2786
Status last verified
Mar 2022
First submitted
14 Apr 2021
Last updated
21 Mar 2023
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
Yes: Deidentified individual data that supports the results will be shared beginning 9 to 36 months following publication provided the investigator who proposes to use the data has approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB), Independent Ethics Committee (IEC), or Research Ethics Board (REB), as applicable, and executes a data use/sharing agreement with the University of North Carolina.

Publications

  • Weiner BJ, Lewis CC, Stanick C, Powell BJ, Dorsey CN, Clary AS, Boynton MH, Halko H. Psychometric assessment of three newly developed implementation outcome measures. Implement Sci. 2017 Aug 29;12(1):108. doi: 10.1186/s13012-017-0635-3.

    PubMed 28851459

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Decision Support Tool in people with Premature Birth and Feeding and Eating Disorders of Childhood, run by University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 6 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 21 Mar 2023. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 21 Mar 2023). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Number of Participants That Recommend Feeding Therapy (time frame: Immediately after reading feeding case study, within approximately 5 minutes). The study lists 3 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT04850794, which also lists 1 linked publication.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 21 Mar 2023.

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