A Communication Strategy for Families of Patients Dying in the ICU

A Proactive Communication Strategy for Family Members of Patients Dying in the ICU: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

Status

Terminated

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT00331877

Enrollment

136

Registered

2006-05-31

Start date

2005-05-31

Completion date

2006-01-31

Last updated

2006-05-31

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

Conditions

Family of Dying Patient in the ICU

Keywords

family, end-of-life, intensive care unit

Brief summary

Decisions to limit life sustaining treatments are made for most patients dying in the ICU, usually with input from the family. The well-being of the family may be jeopardized by involvement in the decision-making process and bereavement. We evaluated the ability of a proactive communication strategy (family conference and providing family members with a bereavement information leaflet) designed to improve family well-being.

Interventions

PROCEDUREfamily conference with bereavement information leaflet

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

ECT

Masking

DOUBLE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* family of dying patient

Exclusion criteria

* family having no enough knowledge of French to respond to telephone interview * patient alive on day 90

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
symptoms related to posttraumatic stress disorder	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
symptoms of anxiety and depression	—

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Apr 8, 2026