Pediatric cGVHD Symptom Scale

NCT ID: NCT04044365

Last Updated: 2025-12-11

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

RECRUITING

Total Enrollment

420 participants

Study Classification

OBSERVATIONAL

Study Start Date

2019-10-02

Study Completion Date

2026-12-31

Brief Summary

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Background:

Some children/adolescents who have had a stem cell transplant live with chronic graft-versus-host-disease (cGVHD). cGVHD is a side effect of the transplant that can cause multiple bothersome symptoms and negatively affect a child/adolescent squality of daily life. The questionnaires that measure thesymptoms caused by cGVHD are designed for adults. Children/adolescents may not describe their symptoms in the same way. The goal of this research is to improve the way we measure how bothersome these symptoms are for children/adolescents living with cGVHD.

Objective:

To develop a questionnaire (The Pediatric cGHVD Symptom Scale) for children/adolescents living with cGVHD to identify the symptoms they are experiencing and describe how bothersome those symptoms are to them. An additional goal is to design a parent/guardian companion questionnaire that can be used to capture the symptom experiences of very young children who may not be able to complete a questionnaire.

Eligibility:

Children/adolescents ages 5-17 who are receiving treatment for cGVHD after a stem cell transplant, and their parent/guardian..

Design:

This study consists of 2 projects.

Children/adolescents with cGVHD and their parent/guardianparticipants will be grouped by the child/adolescent s age: 5-7, 8-12, and 13-17.

In project 1, participants will complete an age-appropriate questionnaire about cGVHD symptoms. The questionnaire will ask about the child/adolescent s physical functioning and emotional well-being. The parent/guardian will out fill out a companion questionnaire online. The child/adolescent will then review their completed questionnaire during an interview with a researcher and will be asked whether the questions about their symptoms were difficult to understand. The parent/guardian and child/adolescent will then be interviewed together to further explore their responses to the questionnaires. Interviews will be done in person, by phone, and online. . Based on what is learned through these interviews, the wording of the questionnaire will be improved for better comprehension and ease of response.

In project 2, participants will complete this revised questionnairefor their age group along with some other questionnaires that ask about quality of life. Both the child/adolescent and parent/guardian will fill out the questionnaires online at three separate time points.

In both projects, children/adolescents with cGVHD and their parent/guardian participants will be grouped by the child/adolescent s age: 5-7, 8-12, and 13-17.

...

Detailed Description

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Background:

* Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a curative option for many children with cancer and certain genetic disorders. However, recipients of stem cell transplant must deal with years of disfigurement and symptoms arising from an undesirable side effect of transplant, specifically chronic graft-versus-host-disease (cGVHD).
* Children living with cGVHD often face many years of a disabling and painful chronic illness compounded by the side effects of prolonged immunosuppression, particularly long-term steroid use.
* Chronic GVHD can involve almost every organ although it most commonly affects the skin, eyes, mouth, liver, intestines, lung and the musculoskeletal system.
* There has been a large effort through the NIH cGVHD Consensus Consortium to standardize definitions, grading and response criteria for patients with cGVHD on clinical trials. Because of the absence of evidence suggesting which response criteria truly correlates with improvement, the NIH Consensus Panel has recommended following not only physical signs of chronic GVHD, but also symptoms of GVHD.
* The Lee cGVHD Symptom Score has been recognized as a core cGVHD outcome measure in the adult population, however, the instrument has not been validated for use in children/adolescents younger than 18, and many of the symptom terms used in the Lee cGVHD Symptom Scale may not be well understood by younger children.
* There is currently no available pediatric patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure of cGVHD symptom bother.

Primary Objective:

-To develop a psychometrically valid Pediatric cGVHD Symptom Scale (PCSS) and a companion caregiver-proxy measure as counterparts to the Lee cGVHD Symptom Scale.

Eligibility:

* Children 5 to 17 years of age for Project 1 or 8-17 years of age for Project 2, who have undergone prior allogeneic stem cell transplant
* Clinical diagnosis of cGVHD
* Currently receiving systemic treatment for cGVHD (including phototherapies), or has tapered systemic therapy for cGVHD to discontinuation within the past 12 months
* No evidence of malignant disease relapse including molecular relapse and minimal residual disease. Patients with mixed chimerism are eligible to participate
* Comprehend and speak English
* Caregivers of children 5-17 years of age with cGVHD enrolled as a proxies

Design:

* This multicenter non-interventional psychosocial trial will address the study aims in two projects: 1) a qualitative project using cognitive interviewing to confirm the comprehension and ease of response to the PCSS, and 2) a quantitative project to evaluate test-retest reliability, construct validity and responsiveness of the PCSS, as well as to explore concordance of symptom ratings by patients and caregiver proxies.
* In Project 1 (COMPLETE), we will conduct at least 20 cognitive interviews of patient and proxy dyads (caregiver) within each age group (5-7; 8-12; 13-17) for a sample of up to 90 pediatric transplant survivors with cGVHD to refine the symptom items and response choices to ensure that they resonate across the developmental spectrum. Cognitive interviews will evaluate the clarity and comprehension of the PCSS items, the ease and accuracy of judgement of the response choices, and any errors in understanding the response choices, and will refine the PCSS in accordance with study data, before proceeding to Project 2.
* In Project 2, we will evaluate test-retest reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness of the PCSS, in association with the NIH Global cGVHD Symptom Severity Score, the Peds QL, clinician ratings of organ specific cGVHD severity scores and cGVHD severity using the NIH criteria, in a sample of 100 pediatric transplant survivors with cGVHD reflecting two age groups (8-12 years; 13-17 years) of equal numbers and 20 caregivers of children age 5-7 who will serve as proxies. In participants ages 13-17, we will also compare responses on the PCSS with those from the Lee Scale, to determine the youngest age at which adolescent respondents can comprehend the Lee Scale.
* The overall accrual ceiling is 420, which includes pediatric and caregiver participants and accounts for inevaluable participants
* This study will include CCR investigators as well as extramural investigators at national and international study sites.

Conditions

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Graft vs Host Disease

Study Design

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Observational Model Type

COHORT

Study Time Perspective

PROSPECTIVE

Study Groups

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1/Project 1 Child/caregiver-proxy

Children age 5-7 with cGVHD and their caregiver, n=20 child/parent dyads

No interventions assigned to this group

2/Project 1 Child/caregiver-proxy

Children age 8-12 with cGVHD and their caregiver, n=35 child/parent pairs

No interventions assigned to this group

3/Project 1 Child/caregiver-proxy

Children age 13-17 with cGVHD and their caregiver, n=35 child/parent pairs

No interventions assigned to this group

4/Project 2 Child/caregiver-proxy

Children age 5-7 with cGVHD and their caregiver, n=40 child/parent pairs

No interventions assigned to this group

5/Project 2 Child/caregiver-proxy

Children age 8-12 with cGVHD and their caregiver, n=40 child/parent pairs

No interventions assigned to this group

6/Project 2 Child/caregiver-proxy

Children age 13-17 with cGVHD and their caregiver, n=40 child/parent pairs

No interventions assigned to this group

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Children aged 5 to 17 years old (Project 1) or children aged 8 to 17 years old (Project 2)
* Clinical diagnosis of cGVHD following allogeneic stem cell transplant
* Currently receiving systemic treatment for GVHD (including phototherapies), or has had systemic therapy for GVHD tapered to discontinuation within the past 12 months
* No evidence of malignant disease relapse including molecular relapse and minimal residual disease. Patients with mixed chimerism are eligible to participate
* Must have an eligible caregiver proxy who is willing to participate in the study.
* Parent or guardian ability and willingness to sign a written informed consent document
* Must be able to comprehend and speak the English language
* Participants may enroll in both Project 1 and Project 2 of the study. Participation in Project 1 is not required in order to be eligible to participate in Project 2.


* Must be willing and able to provide informed consent
* Must be able to comprehend and speak the English language

EXCLUSOIN CRITERIA:

Children may be excluded from this study if in the judgment of the Principal or Associate Investigator, the child is too ill, or the child s cognitive ability would compromise their ability to participate in study related procedures.
Minimum Eligible Age

5 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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National Cancer Institute (NCI)

NIH

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Lori S Wiener, Ph.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Locations

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Children's Hospital Colorado (CHCO)

Aurora, Colorado, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Children s National Medical Center (CNMC)

Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta - Egleston Hospital

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH)

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

National Institutes of Health Clinical Center

Bethesda, Maryland, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

University of Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

University of Pittsburgh - Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

St. Jude Children s Research Hospital

Memphis, Tennessee, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Texas Children's Hospital (TCH)-Baylor

Houston, Texas, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Institute

Houston, Texas, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center (FHCC)

Seattle, Washington, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Children's & Women's Health Centre of British Columbia (CWHC of BC)

Vancouver BC, , Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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United States Canada

Central Contacts

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Lori S Wiener, Ph.D.

Role: CONTACT

(240) 760-6419

Facility Contacts

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Candice Fortuna

Role: primary

720-777-0166

Maryanne Odinakachukwu

Role: primary

202-476-6250

Judson Russell

Role: primary

404-785-7263

Monica Ohaeri

Role: primary

312-227-1876

Kenneth R. Cook, M.D.

Role: primary

410-955-8751

For more information at the NIH Clinical Center contact National Cancer Institute Referral Office

Role: primary

888-624-1937

Margaret MacMillan, M.D.

Role: primary

612-626-2961

Pamela Vincent

Role: primary

412-692-7267

Kim Holbrook

Role: primary

901-595-1921

Erin Doherty, M.D.

Role: primary

832-826-0860

Alba Rubi Banegas

Role: primary

713-792-9857

Lauren Clarke Beaber

Role: primary

206-667-5262

Ester Choi

Role: primary

References

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Mitchell SA, Hunter R, Fry A, Pavletic SZ, Widemann BC, Wiener L. Development and psychometric testing of a pediatric chronic graft-versus-host disease symptom scale: protocol for a two-phase, mixed methods study. Front Psychol. 2024 Jan 8;14:1243005. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1243005. eCollection 2023.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 38259542 (View on PubMed)

Related Links

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Other Identifiers

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19-C-0131

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: secondary_id

190131

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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