Web-based Family History Tool

Weill Medical College of Cornell University250 enrolled

Overview

The purpose of this pilot study is to determine if a web-based tool that collects family health history is useful for patients being seen in a gynecologic oncology office setting. This research study is being done because collecting a comprehensive family health history is critical as it allows physicians to appropriately refer patients for genetic counseling and genetic testing. However, prior research indicates that the family health history collected in clinical settings is often inadequate to truly assess the risk of genetic disease. Therefore we plan to explore a web-based program that guides patients through the collection of their family health history and uses this information to create clear concise pedigrees (family tree information) and risk assessment models that can be used by a physician during the office visit.

Patients presenting for a new patient visit with a gynecologic oncologist will be randomized to one of three methods of collection of family health history (Arm 1 - standard of care consisting of interview with the physician; Arm 2 - completion of a web-based family health history tool completed in the clinic waiting room on a computer; Arm 3 - completion of a web-based family health history tool completed prior to the visit and accessed by an email link). A new 4th arm was added with 200 chart reviews to retrospectively look back at how previous family health history was taken for new patients in 2019. The study will evaluate the quality of the family health history collected, the resulting referral to genetic services and patient and physician satisfaction.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

250

Conditions

Interventions

Web-based family health history toolOTHER

Web-based tool that collects subject's family health history through a series of questions and generates a pedigree which documents a risk assessment report for the physician to use. The risk assessment report uses standard, validated risk scores including GAIL , CLAUS, BRCAPRO which measure breast cancer risk, and MMRPRO which measures endometrial cancer risk, MELAPRO which measures melanoma cancer risk, and PANCPRO which measures pancreatic cancer risk

Eligibility

Sex: FEMALEMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 100 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: Female \> 18 years of age. Scheduled for new patient visit with one of the gynecologic oncologists at Weill Cornell Medicine (Melissa Frey MD, Kevin Holcomb MD, Evelyn Cantillo MD, Eloise Chapman MD). Exclusion Criteria: Subjects who cannot communicate in English as the FHH collection tool and surveys are available only in English. Subjects who were adopted and have no information about their family health history. Subjects who do not present for the new patient visit.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Proportion of subjects with high quality family health history (FHH)

To compare the amount of subjects with a high quality family health history in each of the study arms that properly assesses disease risk. Currently FHH in a gynecologic oncology clinic setting is inadequate to assess disease risk. The use of a web-based FHH collection tool that also offers the providers with a risk assessment tool may address these challenges and increase the comprehensiveness of FHH collection and risk assessment in the gynecologic oncology clinic. For a pedigree to be considered high quality, at least one individual in the pedigree must meet all quality criteria ("high quality relative"). 1. Three generations of relatives 2. Relatives' lineage (e.g. paternal or maternal side) 3. Relatives' gender 4. An up-to-date FHH 5. Pertinent negatives in FHH noted (i.e. no FHH of cancer) 6. Age of disease onset in affected relatives 7. For deceased relatives - the age of death 8. For deceased relatives - the cause of death.

Time frame: Anytime between 18 - 24 months