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Patient-Centered Medication Review for Hospice Care (SPECTORx Trial)

N/A

Waitlist Available

Led By Jennifer Tjia, MD, MSCE

Research Sponsored by University of Massachusetts, Worcester

Eligibility Criteria Checklist

Specific guidelines that determine who can or cannot participate in a clinical trial

Must have

Be older than 65 years old

Timeline

Screening 3 weeks

Treatment Varies

Follow Up 24 weeks post enrollment

Awards & highlights

SPECTORx Trial Summary

This trial is testing a new way to help hospice staff manage patients' medications as their illness progresses, and to educate and empower family caregivers to help with administering the medications safely.

Who is the study for?

This trial is for English-speaking family caregivers who assist someone with a life-limiting illness, expected to live more than a month, and experiencing a recent decline in function. The patient must be on five or more regular medications and able to consent (or have a representative who can).Check my eligibility

What is being tested?

The study tests training hospice staff in medication review aligned with patients' care goals and educating caregivers about safe medication use, administration skills, and when it might be right to stop certain drugs.See study design

What are the potential side effects?

Since this trial focuses on education and communication strategies rather than new medications, there are no direct side effects from interventions like you'd expect with drug trials.

SPECTORx Trial Timeline

Screening ~ 3 weeks3 visits

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~ 24 weeks post enrollment

Screening ~ 3 weeks

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~24 weeks post enrollment

This trial's timeline: 3 weeks for screening, Varies for treatment, and 24 weeks post enrollment for reporting.

Treatment Details

Study Objectives

Outcome measures can provide a clearer picture of what you can expect from a treatment.

Primary outcome measures

Family Caregiver Medication Administration Hassle Scale, Baseline

Family Caregiver Medication Administration Hassle Scale, Week 12

Family Caregiver Medication Administration Hassle Scale, Week 2

+2 more

Secondary outcome measures

Adverse events, Week 12

Adverse events, Week 2

Adverse events, Week 4

+16 more

SPECTORx Trial Design

2Treatment groups

Experimental Treatment

Active Control

Group I: SPECTORx Educational InterventionExperimental Treatment3 Interventions

The program intervention is based on a combination of 3 existing, complementary, educational programs that, together, equip hospice staff to create a comprehensive, patient-centered, medication management care plan.

Group II: Attention ControlActive Control1 Intervention

As the attention control, we will refer staff in control offices to the National Institute of Aging (NIA)'s website on "Medicines and Medication Management" to review content and materials for use in Family Care Giver (FCG) support.

Do I qualify?Apply below to find out

Find a Location

Who is running the clinical trial?

University of UtahOTHER

1,099 Previous Clinical Trials

1,778,677 Total Patients Enrolled

University of Massachusetts, WorcesterLead Sponsor

343 Previous Clinical Trials

986,565 Total Patients Enrolled

Boston CollegeOTHER

37 Previous Clinical Trials

47,274 Total Patients Enrolled

Media Library

"Discontinuing Medication Appropriately" and "Understanding the Art of Communication about Deprescribing" Clinical Trial Eligibility Overview. Trial Name: NCT03972163 — N/A

Interdisciplinary Communication Research Study Groups: SPECTORx Educational Intervention, Attention Control

Interdisciplinary Communication Clinical Trial 2023: "Discontinuing Medication Appropriately" and "Understanding the Art of Communication about Deprescribing" Highlights & Side Effects. Trial Name: NCT03972163 — N/A

"Discontinuing Medication Appropriately" and "Understanding the Art of Communication about Deprescribing" 2023 Treatment Timeline for Medical Study. Trial Name: NCT03972163 — N/A

Frequently Asked Questions

These questions and answers are submitted by anonymous patients, and have not been verified by our internal team.

Does the age requirement for this trial exceed 85 years?

"The age range for this trial is from 65 to 110 years old, as outlined in the enrollment criteria."

Answered by AI

Are there any openings in this trial for participants?

"As indicated on clinicaltrials.gov, this medical research has stopped taking in new patients as of May 31st 2022, despite initially being posted on January 15th 2020. Fortunately, there are 107 other studies that still require volunteers at the moment."

Answered by AI

What efficacy are investigators hoping to observe from this experiment?

"This clinical trial's primary end-point is the Family Caregiver Medication Administration Hassle Scale, assessed two weeks after enrollment. Other objectives include gauging Potentially Inappropriate Medications (PIM) at Week 2 and monitoring Adverse Events during Week 4. Researchers will also use a sophisticated metric called the Medication Regimen Complexity Index to measure the complexity of patients' chronic disease and preventive medication regimens over 24 weeks."

Answered by AI

Would I meet the qualifications to take part in this trial?

"To be eligible for this experimental treatment, patients must currently take multiple medications and have attained the age of 65 up to 110. 45 individuals are required in order to realise successful results from the trial."

Answered by AI

Recent research and studies

BMC Medical Research MethodologyJournal

Stakeholder-engaged Process for Refining the Design of a Clinical Trial in Home Hospice

Tjia, Jennifer, Margaret Clayton, Germán Chiriboga, Brooke Staples, Geraldine Puerto, Lynley Rappaport, and Susan DeSanto-Madeya. 2021. “Stakeholder-engaged Process for Refining the Design of a Clinical Trial in Home Hospice”. BMC Medical Research Methodology. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1186/s12874-021-01275-0.

clinicaltrials.govStudy

Standardized Patient-Centered Medication Review in Home Hospice

Jennifer Tjia 2020. "Standardized Patient-Centered Medication Review in Home Hospice". ClinicalTrials.gov. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03972163.