Spaced Education to Optimize Prostate Cancer Screening

NCT ID: NCT01168323

Last Updated: 2010-08-09

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

95 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2007-01-31

Study Completion Date

2009-02-28

Brief Summary

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Two memory research findings (the spacing and testing effects) can dramatically improve retention of learning, but they have largely have been ignored by educators. The researchers have developed a novel form of online education (termed 'spaced education') based on these two effects which has been shown in randomized trials to improve knowledge acquisition and boost learning retention. Using prostate cancer screening as an experimental system, the researchers investigated whether spaced education could durably improve clinicians' behaviors, not just their knowledge.

Detailed Description

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Conditions

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Prostate Cancer

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Spaced education clinicians - cohort 1

Spaced education clinicians receive four isomorphic cycles of 9 spaced education emails over 36-weeks (0-2 emails per week). Each email contained one question-explanation.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Online spaced education

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Spaced education is currently delivered via periodic emails that contain clinical case scenarios and multiple-choice questions. Upon submitting answers to each question online, clinicians receive immediate feedback and educational material. The questions are then repeated over spaced intervals of time to harness the pedagogical benefits of the spacing effect.

Control clinicians - cohort 2

Control clinicians received no intervention

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Online spaced education

Spaced education is currently delivered via periodic emails that contain clinical case scenarios and multiple-choice questions. Upon submitting answers to each question online, clinicians receive immediate feedback and educational material. The questions are then repeated over spaced intervals of time to harness the pedagogical benefits of the spacing effect.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Primary care providers (physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants) from the 8 Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals in the New England region (Veterans Integrated Service Network 1 \[VISN-1\]) were eligible to enroll.

Exclusion Criteria

* Primary care providers (PCPs) who ordered PSA as a screen for prostate cancer less than 10 times each year were excluded.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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US Department of Veterans Affairs

FED

Sponsor Role collaborator

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

FED

Sponsor Role collaborator

American Urological Association

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Astellas Pharma US, Inc.

INDUSTRY

Sponsor Role collaborator

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

NIH

Sponsor Role collaborator

Wyeth is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Pfizer

INDUSTRY

Sponsor Role collaborator

Harvard University Faculty of Medicine

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Harvard Medical School; Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System.

Principal Investigators

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B. Price Kerfoot, MD EdM

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

VA Boston Healthcare System, Harvard Medical School

Locations

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Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

References

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Kerfoot BP, Lawler EV, Sokolovskaya G, Gagnon D, Conlin PR. Durable improvements in prostate cancer screening from online spaced education a randomized controlled trial. Am J Prev Med. 2010 Nov;39(5):472-8. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2010.07.016.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 20965387 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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IRB# 1786

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

5K08HS017147

Identifier Type: AHRQ

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

M15310

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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