The purpose of this study is to find out if complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) should be included with traditional therapy for women with ovarian cancer. Some of the alternative medicines include non-traditional drug and herbal therapies along with dietary and nutritional strategies. Only a few of these alternative medicines have been tested with women with ovarian cancer.
The study will be offered to women with ovarian cancer who are receiving care at the Gynecologic Oncology Clinic at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center. Prospective candidates, identified via chart review, will receive a mailing that describes and invites them to be screened for eligibility. Potential participants seen in the clinic will also be approached and invited to participate. The informed consent process and pretesting will take place in the clinic, with exceptions made as needed for women who prefer to complete documents at home. The intervention, which will consist of four educational CAM sessions, will be held on site in a private room at Moffitt Cancer Center. Immediately before and after each session, we will administer a brief on-site pre- and post-test. Upon completion of the intervention, participants will be asked to complete a post-test on site or at home, depending on their preference. Follow-up telephone calls will be made to the participants at 8 weeks after the last session. Pre- and post-test measures will focus on quality of life, prior use of CAM therapies, topic preferences, knowledge gained from the presentations, changed intentions and behaviors associated with CAM, and satisfaction with the program.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
28
Assess the interest level for various CAM topics through feedback received from the study participants
Attend a two-hour presentation each week for four weeks
Integrate the CAM topics of highest interest into participant's regular care
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute
Tampa, Florida, United States
Number of Participants Interested in Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM)
Aim 1, proportions of participants who attend the education sessions (with 95% confidence intervals) will be calculated for each of the 5 CAM therapies. Mean (along with SD) score will be calculated for each therapy.
Time frame: Average of 18 Weeks
Contingency Table
Aim 2, contingency table will be provided to associate pretest factors (e.g., demographics, clinical history, disease status, and psychological status) with the dichotomous outcome of CAM choice.
Time frame: Average of 18 Weeks
Number of Participants Reporting They Were Influenced by the Education Sessions
Aim 3, symptom experience, quality of life, and knowledge of CAM therapies will be measured pre- and post- CAM education programs. Pre-test means, post-test means, and pre-post difference score means, along with standard deviations, will be calculated. No formal power analysis is planned because this is a pilot study to collect preliminary information for future larger studies.
Time frame: Average of 18 Weeks
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Examine the data to see if it supports recommending a larger, multi-site, integrative CAM program for other women with ovarian cancer