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Pediatric CancerNCT05783310

Psychoeducation Intervention for Caregivers of Children With Cancer

A study testing Psychoeducation Intervention in people with Pediatric Cancer, run by Chinese University of Hong Kong at 2 sites in Malawi.

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

This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the psychoeducation intervention on anxiety, depressive symptoms, coping, and HRQoL in caregivers of children with cancer. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Pediatric Cancer
What is being tested?
Psychoeducation Intervention
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
118 participants
Where
2 sitesMalawi
Study dates
22 May 2023to 30 Dec 2023
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

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
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Caregivers will be included if the child is within the one-year post-cancer diagnosis and on treatment, the primary carer of the child, the child is aged ≤ 15 years, caregivers are above 18 years, and caregivers must have a score of more than five on GAD-7 score. A score of 5 is the cut-off point for anxiety in this questionnaire.

Who cannot join

  • Caregivers of children with other co-morbidities will be excluded from the study.

Trial locations and contacts

2 sites in 1 country.

Malawi2 sites
  • Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital

    Blantyre

  • Kamuzu Central Hospital

    Lilongwe

Other trials in Malawi

About this study

Official title: Effectiveness of Psychoeducation Intervention on Reducing Negative Psychological Outcomes and Enhancing Coping of Caregivers of Children With Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the psychoeducation intervention on anxiety, depressive symptoms, coping, and HRQoL in caregivers of children with cancer.

The study is a two-arm parallel-group single-blind, randomized controlled trial that will be conducted in two hospitals in Malawi.

Read the detailed description

Aim of the study To develop and implement psychoeducation intervention that meet the need of caregivers of children with cancer in Malawi.

Objectives of the study

  1. To develop a psychoeducation intervention that addresses the needs of caregivers of children with cancer in Malawian culture.
  2. To evaluate the effectiveness of the PEI in reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms and enhancing coping and HRQoL among caregivers of children with cancer in Malawi.

Hypotheses of the study

  1. Compared with the control group, caregivers in the intervention group will have significantly lower anxiety levels immediately after the intervention, and at 3 months post-intervention.
  2. Compared with the control group, caregivers in the intervention group will have significantly fewer depressive symptoms immediately after the intervention, and at 3 months post-intervention.
  3. Compared with the control group, caregivers in the intervention group will have significantly better HRQoL, immediately after the intervention, and at 3 months post-intervention.
  4. Compared with the control group, caregivers in the intervention group will have significantly better coping skills immediately after the intervention, and at 3 months post-intervention.
Being tested
Psychoeducation Intervention
Keywords
Anxiety, Cancer, Caregivers, Children, Coping, Depressive symptom, Health-related quality of life, Psychoeducation intervention
Medical subject headings
Neoplasms, Anxiety Disorders, Depression

What participants receive

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

  • Psychoeducation InterventionBehavioural

    The participants in the intervention group will receive six sessions of psychoeducation intervention, lasting 60 minutes per session for six weeks. The intervention will be provided face-to-face using lectures and discussions. There will also be sharing of experience by the caregivers of children with cancer and a sharing by a caregiver of a childhood cancer survivor. The group format has been chosen to enable caregivers to offer emotional support to each other. The intervention has four components: cancer education, coping skills training, stress management techniques training, and psychological support. The intervention group will also receive the usual care.

Study groups in NCT05783310
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Psychoeducation InterventionExperimentalThe intervention group will receive six sessions of a psychoeducation intervention delivered face-to-face
Receives: Behavioral: Psychoeducation Intervention
Control groupNo interventionNo psychoeducation intervention will be given

What is being measured

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

  1. Anxiety level

    Anxiety will be measured using the General Anxiety Disorder questionnaire (GAD-7) GAD-7 is a 7-item scale that assesses anxiety symptoms on a 4-point scale (0=not at all to 3=nearly every day). The final score is determined by summing the scores for the seven items. Scores 5, 10, and 15 represent the cut-off points for mild, moderate, and severe anxiety, respectively.

    Measured: Baseline

  2. Anxiety level

    Anxiety will be measured using the General Anxiety Disorder questionnaire (GAD-7) GAD-7 is a 7-item scale that assesses anxiety symptoms on a 4-point scale (0=not at all to 3=nearly every day). The final score is determined by summing the scores for the seven items. Scores 5, 10, and 15 represent the cut-off points for mild, moderate, and severe anxiety, respectively.

    Measured: Post-intervention at six weeks

  3. Anxiety level

    Anxiety will be measured using the General Anxiety Disorder questionnaire (GAD-7) GAD-7 is a 7-item scale that assesses anxiety symptoms on a 4-point scale (0=not at all to 3=nearly every day). The final score is determined by summing the scores for the seven items. Scores 5, 10, and 15 represent the cut-off points for mild, moderate, and severe anxiety, respectively.

    Measured: Three months post-intervention

Secondary outcomes (3)
  1. Depressive symptoms

    Depressive symptoms will be measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).The PHQ-9 is a 9-item scale that measures depressive symptoms on a 4-point scale (0=not at all to 3=nearly every day), and the final score is obtained by summing the scores for the nine items. The scores 5, 10, 15, and 20 represent cut-off points for mild depression, moderate depression, moderately severe depression, and severe depression.

    Measured: Baseline, immediately after intervention and three months follow up

  2. Health-related quality of life

    The HRQoL will be measured using the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) 12-item short-form health survey (SF-12) questionnaire. The SF-12 contains a subset of the SF-36 covering the eight dimensions of the HRQoL in two domains of physical health component (PHC) and mental health component (MHC). The final score is calculated by transforming each scale into 0-100; the higher the mean score, the better the HRQoL.

    Measured: Baseline, immediately after intervention and three months follow up

  3. Coping

    The coping will be measured by Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE). Brief-COPE is a 28-self-reporting item scale for assessing an individual's ways of coping with stress. The tool is evaluated on the Likert scale of 1 to 4 (1 = I have not been doing it, and 4 = I have been doing it). Brief COPE has 14 subscales: active coping, use of information support, positive reframing, planning, emotional support, venting, humor, acceptance, religion, self-blame, denial, substance use, and behavioral disengagement. The total score is obtained by summing up the individual subscale; the higher score indicates high utilization of coping style in that particular subscale.

    Measured: Baseline, immediately after intervention and three months follow up

Timeline

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

  1. First posted24 Mar 2023
  2. Study start22 May 2023
  3. Primary completion30 Nov 2023
  4. Study completion30 Dec 2023

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
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Model description
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single blind
Who is masked
Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
118 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT05783310
Sponsor's protocol ID
2023.040
Status last verified
Feb 2024
First submitted
2 Mar 2023
Last updated
20 Feb 2024
Results posted
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Psychoeducation Intervention in people with Pediatric Cancer, run by Chinese University of Hong Kong at 2 sites in Malawi.

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 1 inclusion and 1 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 20 Feb 2024. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 2 sites in Malawi. 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?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

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?

Anxiety level (time frame: Baseline). 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?
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 20 Feb 2024.

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