Chinese American Cancer Survivors Writing Study

N/AActive Not RecruitingNCT05456100

New York University108 enrolled

Overview

The Chinese American Cancer Survivors Writing Study is a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) testing the feasibility and efficacy of the Expressive Helping (EH) intervention among Chinese American cancer survivors.

Chinese Americans are one of the fastest growing immigrant groups in the United States, but there is still a lack of culturally-sensitive and linguistically-appropriate resources and interventions for this group. To address this gap, the investigators will examine the efficacy and feasibility of Expressive Helping, a writing intervention designed to lead participants to write about their cancer experiences. Participants will be adult cancer survivors of Chinese descent. After screening and consent, eligible participants will be enrolled in a 1:1:1 randomized controlled trial. Assessments of psychological symptoms will occur at baseline (prior to randomization), 1-month post-intervention, 3-months post-intervention, and 6-months post-intervention.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

108

Conditions

Cancer

Interventions

Expressive HelpingBEHAVIORAL

Expressive helping involves a combination of emotional disclosure and peer support writing completed over four weeks.

Expressive WritingBEHAVIORAL

Expressive writing involves emotional disclosure writing over four weeks.

Factual WritingBEHAVIORAL

Factual writing involves writing facts about cancer treatment and experiences over four weeks.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 80 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Over 18 years old. * Prefer speaking in Mandarin Chinese or Cantonese, and able to read and write Simplified or Traditional Chinese. * Within 5 years after completing primary treatment or have completed primary treatment but still on medication for managing cancer-related symptoms. Exclusion Criteria: * Difficulties with writing * Current active participation in support groups (i.e., attending more than once per week)

Locations (1)

New York University

New York, New York, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Recruitment rates

The number of participants screened for eligibility, percent eligible to participate, and percent of people who refuse to participate will be tracked.

Time frame: through study completion, an average of 6 months

Retention rates

Percent of participants who complete each stage of the study (e.g., baseline survey, writing sessions, follow-ups) will be tracked.

Time frame: through study completion, an average of 6 months

Completion rate of writing sessions

Assessed by dividing the number of writing sessions finished by the number of sessions assigned.

Time frame: through study completion, an average of 6 months

Secondary Outcomes

Changes in depressive symptoms assessed by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale

Depressive symptoms will be measured with the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The score can range from 0-30 and higher scores indicate more depressive symptoms.

Time frame: Baseline to 1-month follow-up, 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up

Changes in anxiety symptoms assessed by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener

Anxiety symptoms will be measured with the 7-item GAD-7 scale (Spitzer et al., 2006). This scale measures generalized anxiety symptoms in the past 7 days, has score ranges from 0-21 with higher scores indicating greater anxiety symptoms.

Time frame: Baseline to 1-month follow-up, 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up

Changes in health-related quality of life assessed by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy: General (FACT-G).

Health-related quality of life will be measured by the 27-item FACT-G, which assess four domains: physical well-being, social well-being, emotional well-being and functional well-being. The score ranges from 0-108 with higher scores indicating better quality of life.

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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