A psychoeducational intervention for patients with lung cancer.

The effectiveness of a psychoeducational program on the psychological, information needs, and quality of life of patients with lung cancer.

Status

Recruiting

Phases

Phase 3

Study type

Interventional

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12606000183583

Acronym

LRCT

Enrollment

210

Registered

2006-05-17

Start date

2005-01-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

While patients with advanced cancer have high levels of unmet needs, a recent systematic review indicated that very few trials of psychosocial interventions have been conducted with palliative patients, and none have been conducted with lung cancer patients. The present research aims to evaluate a supportive care program for patients with inoperable lung cancer who have a potentially limited life expectancy, using a randomised controlled design. 210 patients will be recruited and asked to fill out baseline measures of anxiety/depression, unmet needs and quality of life. Participants will then be randomised to receive either the intervention or usual care. Permission will be sought from participants to obtain information about medical variables from their medical record. Oncologists will provide information about each participant’s treatment plan, performance status, and awareness of prognosis, and will refer intervention participants to two supportive care sessions. Participants will be encouraged to bring a significant other(s) with them to the supportive care sessions. The content of each session will be tailored to respond to needs identified in the baseline data. The first group session will be timed to correspond with the beginning of treatment, and the second will occur at the end of treatment. In addition, baseline data summaries for each intervention patient will be made available to the treating team to assist them in meeting the patient’s needs. Where particular needs are identified, appropriate referrals will be made (e.g. to social work, psychology etc) by the Lung clinical nurse coordinator. Follow-up measures (anxiety/depression, unmet needs, quality of life and needs related to treatment preparation) will be administered at 8 and 12 weeks post baseline when patients attend the clinic at these approximate time points.

Interventions

Two tailored, one hour, pyscho-educational sessions with feedback on baseline psychosocial needs to key members of the multidisciplinary team. The first psychoeducational session is delivered at treatment commencement and the second is delivered within 8 weeks of baseline, as close as possible to treatment completion.

Study design

Allocation

Randomised controlled trial

Intervention model

Parallel

Primary purpose

Educational / counselling / training

Masking

Open (masking not used)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1) Diagnosis of inoperable lung cancer, mesothelioma or pleural cancer; 2) ECOG performance status less than or equal to 2; 3) Scheduled to receive external beam radiotherapy with or without concurrent chemotherapy, or scheduled to receive palliative intent chemotherapy only with no other treatment modality.

Exclusion criteria

1) Delirium or dementia2) Psychosis3) Insufficient English to read the consent form independently4)Scheduled to receive surgery as a form of treatment.

Outcome results