Computerized PAINRelieveIt Protocol for Cancer Pain Control in Hospice

N/ACompletedNCT02026115

University of Illinois at Chicago262 enrolled

Overview

The study purpose is to compare usual hospice care and PAINRelieveIt groups for effects on: (1) patient outcomes (analgesic adherence; worst pain intensity, satisfaction, and misconceptions) and lay caregiver outcome (pain misconceptions) in a diverse sample of 250 cancer patient-caregiver dyads receiving hospice care; and (2) nurse outcomes (obtained appropriate analgesics for patient) in a sample of hospice nurses. The investigators hypothesize that at posttest, controlling for pretest data and compared to the usual care group, the PAINRelieveIt group will: a) report decreased scores for worst pain intensity and pain misconceptions; b) have increased analgesic adherence (primary outcome); and c) have a larger proportion who report satisfaction with pain intensity and whose nurses obtained appropriate analgesics for the patients' pain.

Unrelieved cancer pain at the end of life is a major health problem and is inconsistent with patient-centered goals for their last days. Building on a successful approach researched in outpatient oncology settings, the investigators propose a study testing PAINRelieveIt, a system-level intervention of computerized tools with patient-reported pain outcomes (in English, Spanish, Chinese languages), decision support for clinicians (English) and multimedia education tailored to each cancer patient and lay caregiver. Using a 1-week pre-test/post-test randomized design in patients receiving home level hospice care provided by two Chicago-area hospices, we will compare effects of usual hospice care with PAINReportIt Summary and usual hospice care with PAINRelieveIt on pain outcomes. The tablet-based PAINRelieveIt includes valid and reliable pain tools (PAINReportIt), a summary of the patient's pain data with decision support for hospice nurses to obtain recommendations for algorithm-based analgesic therapies (PAINConsultN), and multimedia education tailored to the patient's and lay caregiver's pain management misconceptions (PainUCope). Patient's/caregiver's answers are automatically stored in an electronic database, from which the system generates a PAINReportIt Summary (usual hospice care control group); PAINConsultN and PainUCope (experimental group). All patients will receive usual hospice care. All patients/caregivers will complete PAINReportIt at pretest and 1-week later (posttest); patients also complete parts of PAINReportIt daily. Via daily e-mail updates, the control-group hospice nurses will receive a PAINReportIt Summary and experimental-group hospice nurses will receive a PAINConsultN. Additionally, experimental group patients/caregivers will view multimedia educational materials via PAINUCope to help patients report pain and adhere to prescribed analgesics. Specific aims are to compare usual hospice care and PAINRelieveIt groups for effects on: 1. Patient outcomes (analgesic adherence; worst pain intensity, satisfaction, and misconceptions) and lay caregiver outcome (pain misconceptions) in a diverse sample of 250 cancer patient-caregiver dyads receiving hospice care. 2. Nurse outcomes (obtained appropriate analgesics for patient) in a sample of hospice nurses. The investigators hypothesize that at posttest, controlling for pretest data and compared to the usual care group, the PAINRelieveIt group will: a) report decreased scores for worst pain intensity and pain misconceptions; b) have increased analgesic adherence (primary outcome); and c) have a larger proportion who report satisfaction with pain intensity and whose nurses obtained appropriate analgesics for the patients' pain. Findings will guide future system-level research to implement PAINRelieveIt in a multi-site, longitudinal trial that will test the effect of disseminating this technology on clinical decisions for managing pain and patient/caregiver pain outcomes in a national sample of hospices. This approach offers improved pain control for dying patients and other populations.

Interventions

PAINReportItBEHAVIORAL

PAINReportIt is a software program developed with an electronic McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) and now includes questions about analgesics used by patients and a shortened version of the pain Barriers Questionnaire (BQ). It is designed as an interactive, touch screen way to assess pain. It can be self-administered and requires little or no patient computer experience and little or no provider time. The patient can read instructions on-screen and practice all types of selection responses found the program. Directions from the paper tools were modified to address the touch screen method of recording responses. The copyright is owned by Dr. Ronald Melzack for the MPQ and Dr. Sandra Ward for the BQ. Both individuals authorized the modifications, format, and computerized use of the tools.

PAINConsultNBEHAVIORAL

PAINConsultN for hospice nurses. Our previous studies support the feasibility and clinical effect of PAINConsultN. This narrative and graphic tool provides decision support for the nurse's clinical decisions regarding management of the patient's pain. Based on the PAINReportIt output and published cancer pain guidelines, PAINConsultN generates an algorithm-based consultation report with a list of recommendations that could be useful to provide improved pain relief. If the patient's PAINReportIt output indicates the pain level is consistent with the patient's goals for pain management and represents no pain or a mild pain level, the consultation report acknowledges the therapy plan and reinforces its consistency with pain guidelines.

PAINUCopeBEHAVIORAL

We tested the PAINUCope piece of the intervention in 3 completed studies. PAINUCope is a multimedia, computer generated tool that gives tailored information to overcome patients' misconceptions about pain and help them engage in activities that help reduce their pain. PAINUCope focuses on 2 crucial aspects of pain management: 1) reporting cancer pain and 2) safe and effective use of pain medicines. The educational materials are written at a 6th grade reading level and presented as 21st Century best-practices, evidence-based facts or scripts for the person with cancer or sickle cell disease (in one study). The facts or scripts are customized to the patient's need for this type of health information. The patient's responses on PAINReportIt guide the specific information shared via PAINUCope.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: Study inclusion criteria require that the patient: (1) be admitted to home care level of hospice service; (2) has a diagnosis of cancer; (3) has experienced worst pain in the past 24 hours \>3 on a 0-10 scale; (4) speaks, reads and writes English, Spanish, or Chinese; (5) is \> 18 years of age; 6) has a lay caregiver who is \> 18 years of age and willing to participate; and (7) has a life expectancy of about 19 days at the time of study enrollment, as suggested by a Palliative Performance Scale (PPS)41 score of \> 40. The lay caregiver inclusion criteria require that the individual: (1) be designated as the primary lay caregiver for the participating patient during the 7-day study period; (2) speaks, reads and writes English, Spanish, or Chinese; and (3) is \> 18 years of age. The hospice nurse inclusion criteria require that the individual: (1) be assigned as the primary hospice nurse for the participating patient during the 7-day study period; (2) speaks, reads and writes English (since the PAINConsultN is in English) but may speak Spanish or Chinese for clinical care purposes; and (3) is \> 18 years of age. Exclusion Criteria: * Patients and lay caregivers will be excluded if they: (1) are legally blind or deaf; or (2) have cognitive or physical impairments making it impossible to communicate or to complete study instruments at enrollment or any time during the study.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Analgesic Adherence-patient

Analgesic adherence is derived from data regarding analgesics documented as prescribed (available to the patient as indicated from the medication list in the home) and analgesics consumed (from PAINReportIt). We calculate an analgesic adherence rate (dose reported as consumed divided by dose documented as prescribed, multiplied by 100) for all World Health Organization (WHO) analgesics (adjuvants, NSAIDs and non-opioids, and ATC and PRN Step 2 and Step 3 opioids).

Time frame: Average of daily adherence (days 1 to 7)

Secondary Outcomes

Worst Pain Intensity-patient

worst pain intensity in previous 24 hours measured on 0 to 10 scale where 0 means no pain and 10 means pain as bad as it can be.

Time frame: Average of daily worse pain intensity (days 1 to 7)