Ignite Creation Date:
2024-05-05 @ 9:59 PM
Last Modification Date:
2024-10-26 @ 10:12 AM
Study NCT ID:
NCT01008241
Status:
COMPLETED
Last Update Posted:
2023-04-25
First Post:
2009-11-03
Brief Title:
South Florida Residents Knowledge and Opinions on End-of-Life Issues
Sponsor:
Maria Isabel Fernandez
Organization:
Nova Southeastern University
Study Overview
Official Title:
Project Hope Survey of South Florida Residents Knowledge and Opinions on End-of-Life Issues
Status:
COMPLETED
Status Verified Date:
2023-04
Last Known Status:
None
Delayed Posting:
No
If Stopped, Why?:
Not Stopped
Has Expanded Access:
False
If Expanded Access, NCT#:
N/A
Has Expanded Access, NCT# Status:
N/A
Acronym:
None
Brief Summary:
The goal of this cross-sectional study is to gain an understanding of the knowledge and attitudes regarding end of life issues and hospice care among a sample of residents of South Florida This study is being conducted by 3rd year Osteopathic Medical Student OMS-IIINova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine NSU COM research fellow Heather Ruff as part of the research fellowship requirements
Participants will complete a paper and pencil questionnaire that measures 4 domains of interest advanced care planning end of life care hospice care and death and dying as well as demographic factors age marital status education etc It is estimated that the survey will take 15 minutes to complete Data will be collected anonymously with no personal identifying information The instructions on the questionnaire state that by completing the questionnaire the participant is providing consent to participate in the study We will use time and space sampling methods to recruit up to 250 participants at community venues ie beaches street corners parks pedestrian malls and other public venues were people congregate in South Florida At each venue we will define a specific area persons who enter the defined area will be approached screened for eligibility 18 years of age or older and a resident of South Florida and if eligible invited to participate by trained research staff Sampling intervals will be determined by traffic flow at each venue If a person agrees to participate they will be given a paper and pencil copy of the survey to complete on the spot Participants will be given a token of appreciation Data entry and data analyses will be done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS
Participants will complete a paper and pencil questionnaire that measures 4 domains of interest advanced care planning end of life care hospice care and death and dying as well as demographic factors age marital status education etc It is estimated that the survey will take 15 minutes to complete Data will be collected anonymously with no personal identifying information The instructions on the questionnaire state that by completing the questionnaire the participant is providing consent to participate in the study We will use time and space sampling methods to recruit up to 250 participants at community venues ie beaches street corners parks pedestrian malls and other public venues were people congregate in South Florida At each venue we will define a specific area persons who enter the defined area will be approached screened for eligibility 18 years of age or older and a resident of South Florida and if eligible invited to participate by trained research staff Sampling intervals will be determined by traffic flow at each venue If a person agrees to participate they will be given a paper and pencil copy of the survey to complete on the spot Participants will be given a token of appreciation Data entry and data analyses will be done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS
Detailed Description:
The survey instrument included questions about demographics constructed by the researchers including the participants age gender ethnicity relationship status education level income and whether they had a religious affiliation Also included were items about steps participants may have taken to plan for their health care in the event they were unable to make personal health care decisions such as whether they had a living well or durable power of attorney for health care and whether they had knowledge of the existence of these documents prior to taking the survey Participants were also asked wherefrom whom they first learned about hospice and where they got most of their knowledge about hospice Hospice This scale contained 24 statements about knowledge and opinions on hospice care Hospice was defined as a program that provides care to people with illnesses that cannot be cured when they are at the end of their lives Participants were asked to report their feelings from 1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree about each statement Items included a Hospice care means giving up b Hospice care means you get no treatment c Hospice care can be provided in a patients home if the patient or family wishes it and d Those who believe in God do not need hospice More favorable attitudes toward hospice are evidenced in higher scores End of life care Seven Likert-type items were used to ask participants about their thoughts and feelings related to the kind of medical care they would want if they had a disease like cancer that could not be cured When answering these questions participants were asked to consider a hypothetical situation in which they had a terminal disease and not consider their current state of health This scale is composed of 7 items and uses a 5-point Likert-type response ranging from 1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree Participants were asked items such as
a If I had a disease like cancer that the doctors could not cure I would want to live as long as possible even if I had to be on life support or a breathingmachine and b If I had a disease like cancer that could not be cured decreasing pain would be more important to me than living as long as possible Higher scores indicate higher levels of advanced planning for EOL care Communication about death and dying Death and dying communication was measured using 9 items rated on a 5-point Likert format with responses ranging from 1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree Examples of items include
1 I feel comfortable talking about death in general
2 Dying is a normal part of life and c Death should be avoided at all costs Higher scores indicate greater comfort with communicating about death and dying Through convenience sampling strategies a total of 625 individuals were approached 610 were eligible and 361 participants returned the survey Thirty questionnaires were dropped because less than two thirds of the scale items were completed resulting in a sample size of 331 Due to low numbers in some demographic categories educational level was collapsed into 3 categories ie high schoolsome college associate bachelors degree and graduate degree and annual income was collapsed into less than US25 000 25 000 to US49 999 and US50 000 or more Ethnicity was categorized as non-Hispanic white black Hispanic and othermixed race Relationship status was dichotomized into have a partner and do not have a partner
a If I had a disease like cancer that the doctors could not cure I would want to live as long as possible even if I had to be on life support or a breathingmachine and b If I had a disease like cancer that could not be cured decreasing pain would be more important to me than living as long as possible Higher scores indicate higher levels of advanced planning for EOL care Communication about death and dying Death and dying communication was measured using 9 items rated on a 5-point Likert format with responses ranging from 1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree Examples of items include
1 I feel comfortable talking about death in general
2 Dying is a normal part of life and c Death should be avoided at all costs Higher scores indicate greater comfort with communicating about death and dying Through convenience sampling strategies a total of 625 individuals were approached 610 were eligible and 361 participants returned the survey Thirty questionnaires were dropped because less than two thirds of the scale items were completed resulting in a sample size of 331 Due to low numbers in some demographic categories educational level was collapsed into 3 categories ie high schoolsome college associate bachelors degree and graduate degree and annual income was collapsed into less than US25 000 25 000 to US49 999 and US50 000 or more Ethnicity was categorized as non-Hispanic white black Hispanic and othermixed race Relationship status was dichotomized into have a partner and do not have a partner
Study Oversight
Has Oversight DMC:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Drug?:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Device?:
None
Is an Unapproved Device?:
None
Is a PPSD?:
None
Is a US Export?:
None
Is an FDA AA801 Violation?:
None