Ride Share Program for Prostate Cancer Access

Overseen By Wesley Chung

Age: 18+

Sex: Male

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: Brigham and Women's Hospital

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: 12

What You Need to Know Before You Apply

What is the purpose of this trial?

This trial explores how rideshare services can assist Black men with prostate cancer in reaching their treatment appointments more easily. It focuses on those with intermediate or high-risk prostate cancer who face transportation challenges to the Mass General Brigham Prostate Cancer Outreach Clinic. By providing rides, the trial aims to reduce missed appointments and enhance access to necessary care. Eligible participants are Black men living in specific areas of Massachusetts known for high travel challenges or those who struggle with transportation for medical visits. As an unphased trial, participants can contribute to innovative solutions that may improve healthcare access for their community.

Will I have to stop taking my current medications?

The trial information does not specify whether you need to stop taking your current medications.

What prior data suggests that this ride share program is safe for prostate cancer patients?

Research has shown that rideshare programs can help patients arrive at their medical appointments on time. This is crucial because missing appointments can worsen health outcomes, such as increasing the risk of cancer recurrence and lowering survival rates.

One study examined the impact of rideshare services on cancer patients and found that these services can reduce missed appointments. As a result, patients are more likely to complete their treatment plans successfully. The study reported no safety issues associated with using rideshare services for medical appointments.

Thus, regarding safety, no evidence suggests that rideshare programs pose any risk. Instead, they help ensure patients receive their treatments on time, potentially improving overall health. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Why are researchers excited about this trial?

Researchers are excited about this trial because it explores how ridesharing might improve access to prostate cancer treatment for Black men, who often face significant travel burdens. Unlike traditional methods that focus solely on medical interventions, this approach targets the logistical challenges that can lead to missed appointments. By potentially reducing these barriers, ridesharing could enhance treatment adherence and outcomes, making it a promising complementary strategy to existing prostate cancer care.

What evidence suggests that this ride share program is effective for reducing travel burden in prostate cancer treatment access?

Research has shown that rideshare services can help reduce missed medical appointments, which is especially important for those who struggle to travel to healthcare facilities. In this trial, Black men with prostate cancer participating in the Ride Share Program may experience reduced travel burdens. A study in radiation oncology found that rideshare services lowered the number of missed appointments and eased travel for patients. For Black men with prostate cancer, who often encounter these travel challenges, rideshare services can be particularly beneficial. The aim is to facilitate access to necessary treatment, improving their chances of better health outcomes. ^{3 5 6 7 8}

Who Is on the Research Team?

Quoc-Dien Trinh, MD,MBA

Principal Investigator

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?

This trial is specifically for Black men with intermediate or high-risk prostate cancer who are seeking surgery or radiation at the Mass General Brigham Prostate Cancer Outreach Clinic. Participants should live in areas of Massachusetts with high travel burdens to medical appointments, or personally report transportation challenges.

Inclusion Criteria

I am looking for a final treatment for prostate cancer, either surgery or radiation, at the Mass General Brigham Prostate Cancer Outreach Clinic.

This clinical trial is not open to black men.

My prostate cancer is not low-risk.

Exclusion Criteria

N/A

Timeline for a Trial Participant

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

2-4 weeks

Pre-intervention

Historical controls sampled from the pre-intervention period to assess baseline missed appointments

April 2022 to September 2024

Intervention

Implementation of ridesharing services to reduce missed appointments among Black men seeking definitive PCa treatment

October 2024 to November 2025

Average of 12 visits per patient

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for missed appointments and time from diagnosis to treatment initiation

18 months

What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?

Interventions

• Ride Share

Trial Overview The study is testing a ride share service to see if it helps reduce the difficulty of getting to treatment appointments for prostate cancer patients facing travel hardships. The goal is to improve health equity by making access to care easier.

How Is the Trial Designed?

Group I: Ride Share Participants Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Investigators will recruit Black men with intermediate or high-risk PC who are seeking definitive treatment at Mass General Brigham Prostate Cancer Outreach Clinic, as Black men are more likely to report travel burden when accessing care and, therefore, most likely to benefit from ridesharing services. Investigators will implement a pre/post-evaluation design with matched historical controls to estimate the impact of rideshares on reducing missed appointments. Historical controls will be sampled from the pre-intervention period of April 2022 to September 2024 and the post-intervention period between October 2024 and November 2025, where October 2024 represents the initiation of the intervention. Participants who identify as Black, reside in a census tract in Massachusetts, and have been recognized as having a high travel burden based on results from Aim 1 will be eligible to receive the rideshare intervention

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Lead Sponsor

Trials

1,694

Recruited

14,790,000+

United States Department of Defense

Collaborator

Trials

940

Recruited

339,000+

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Collaborator

Trials

1,128

Recruited

382,000+

Published Research Related to This Trial

In a study involving 10,521 participants with abnormal cancer screenings and 2,105 with cancer diagnoses, patient navigation significantly improved the timeliness of diagnostic resolution and treatment initiation after 90 days, with adjusted hazard ratios of 1.51 and 1.43, respectively.

The effectiveness of patient navigation was particularly notable in centers where there were greater delays in follow-up care, suggesting that this intervention is especially beneficial for populations at risk of being lost to follow-up.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Impact of patient navigation on timely cancer care: the Patient Navigation Research Program. Freund, KM., Battaglia, TA., Calhoun, E., et al.[2022]

The Prostate Outreach Project successfully educated and screened 4,420 men in medically underserved communities for prostate cancer, significantly increasing their knowledge about the disease and its detection methods.

Despite the successful recruitment and education, only 40% of men with abnormal screening examinations followed up for further medical care, highlighting a critical gap that could perpetuate disparities in prostate cancer outcomes, especially among African American participants who had a higher incidence of diagnosed cancers.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Prostate Cancer Education, Detection, and Follow-Up in a Community-Based Multiethnic Cohort of Medically Underserved Men. Ashorobi, OS., Frost, J., Wang, X., et al.[2019]

The TrueNTH Peer Navigation Training Program (PNTP) was found to be highly acceptable and effective for training prostate cancer survivors as peer navigators, with a satisfaction score of 9.4 out of 10 and a high usability rating of 84.5 out of 100.

Participants showed significant improvements in understanding learning objectives, self-efficacy, and eHealth literacy, indicating that the program effectively enhanced their knowledge and confidence in supporting others with cancer.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Training prostate cancer survivors and caregivers to be peer navigators: a blended online/in-person competency-based training program. Bender, JL., Flora, PK., Milosevic, E., et al.[2021]

Citations

1. clinicaltrials.gov clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06034431

Increasing Access to Definitive Treatment for Prostate Cancer The PCOC prospectively collects granular patient demographics and outcome metrics such as missed appointments and time to treatment initiation, among others, ...

2. cancer.gov cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/NCI-2023-09267

Increasing Access to Definitive Treatment for Prostate ... Researchers want to find out if providing rideshare services reduces missed appointments and travel burdens, and improves the quality of life and enhance ...

3. researchgate.net researchgate.net/publication/346388902_The_Impact_of_Rideshare_Transportation_in_Radiation_Oncology

(PDF) The Impact of Rideshare Transportation in Radiation ... This study is a pilot trial of a novel virtual logistics hub, capable of managing rideshare, taxis, wheelchair accessible vehicles, vehicles ...

4. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12411707/

The role of digital therapeutics in the management ... In conclusion, DTx has been shown to improve mental health, physical activity, health status, urinary symptoms, fatigue, sexual function, and ...

5. ajmc.com ajmc.com/view/rideshare-transportation-to-health-care-evidence-from-a-medicaid-implementation

Rideshare Transportation to Health Care: Evidence From a ... Our study on ridesharing by a managed care transportation broker found no change in ride quality compared with traditional nonemergency medical transportation.

6. clinicaltrials.gov clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06034431

Increasing Access to Definitive Treatment for Prostate Cancer The PCOC prospectively collects granular patient demographics and outcome metrics such as missed appointments and time to treatment initiation, among others, ...

7. sciencedirect.com sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167814024000136

The impact of transportation mode, socioeconomic ... The study includes public transport and car travel times for all patients (c.40,000 men) treated with surgery or radiotherapy for prostate cancer. •. We show ...

8. sciencedirect.com sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1546144022009036

An Analysis of Cancer Center–Provided Rideshare ... Patients who miss scheduled RT appointments are at an increased risk for worse clinical outcomes including higher recurrence risk and lower overall survival [8] ...