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Navigate - Improving Survival in Vulnerable Lung Cancer Patients

Not Applicable
Recruiting
Conditions
Lung Cancer
Interventions
Behavioral: NAVIGATE
Registration Number
NCT05053997
Lead Sponsor
Zealand University Hospital
Brief Summary

Half of patients with lung cancer face a limited life span of one-year survival, which is characterized by severe physical and psychological symptoms. Differences in stage, comorbidity but also treatment may explain a large proportion of the social inequality in lung cancer survival. Some vulnerable patients may not receive first line treatment as planned either due to poor performance status or if they are not able to adhere to treatment appointments. Knowing how to navigate the health system may be a barrier preventing vulnerable patients in receiving optimal treatment. The primary aim of this randomised, controlled trial is to test whether a nurse-led individually tailored program including systematic screening of symptoms using PROs and a physical training program will significantly improve overall survival among vulnerable lung cancer patients compared with standard care. Secondary outcomes include adherence to cancer treatment, symptom burden and health related quality of life.

Detailed Description

During an 18-month period, consecutive newly diagnosed (\< 1 week) lung cancer patients will be pre-screened for eligibility and invited to participate at departments of oncology or respiratory medicine in Denmark. Participants (N=518) will be randomized (1:1) to standard treatment plus the intervention (intervention group) or standard treatment (control group) and followed for 1 year. Patients randomized to the control group will receive standard treatment and care consisting of a nurse and a physician, who sees the patient at treatment schedules and during follow-up, i.e. every 3 months for the first 2 years and subsequently annually up to 5 years.

Data will be collected from the intervention and the control group at baseline within 2 week after diagnosis, and 3, 6 months and 12 months after diagnosis. Physical tests will be performed at baseline and after 3 and 6 months. Baseline physical tests will be allowed after randomization if patients have difficulties in attentending the physiotherapy department within 2 weeks after their diagnosis. Considering that participating patients are vulnerable with limited resources we will proactively support patients in responding to questionnaires electronically, on paper or via telephone as per patient's preference allowing evaluation of the secondary outcomes as well as covariates and mechanisms. The primary outcome and treatment factors will be obtained from the lung cancer clinical database and individual medical journals. In order to develop costutility analyses, information on use of health services will be retrieved from the national registers.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
518
Inclusion Criteria
  • Age ≥ 18 years of age
  • Diagnosed with NSCLC at all stages regardless of treatment intension at the participating departments
  • Performance status ≤ 2
  • Vulnerable according to pre-defined criteria
Exclusion Criteria
  • Severe untreated psychiatric disorder (e.g. psychosis) or cognitive problems (e.g. dementia) preventing informed consent
  • Not able to receive treatment
  • Not able to read and understand Danish -

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
NAVIGATE intervention armNAVIGATENurse navigation
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Overall survival12 months from randomization

Measured from death from all causes

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Rehabilitation services12 months from randomization

Measured by single item question

Overall survival6 months from randomization

Measured by death from all causes

Adherence to cancer treatment12 months from randomization

Measured by date of skipped treatments or delays if any, and dose administered

Symptom burden and health related quality of life12 months from randomization

Measured by EORTC Questionnaire Core 30 (QLQ-C30) and the lung module (QLQ-LC13).

The QLQ-C30 questionnaire consists of 30 questions with five functional scales (physical, role, cognitive, emotional and social), three symptom scales, a global health status / QoL scale, and six single items.

The QLQ-LC13 module comprises both multi-item and single-item measures of lung cancer-associated symptoms (coughing, haemoptysis, dyspnoea and pain) and side-effects from conventional chemo- and radiotherapy (hair loss,neuropathy, sore mouth and dysphagia).

All of the scales and single-item measures range in score from 0 to 100. A high scale score represents a higher response level. Thus a high score for a functional scale represents a high / healthy level of functioning, a high score for the global health status / QoL represents a high QoL, but a high score for a symptom scale / item represents a high level of symptomatology / problems.

Quality of life (QOL) measured by EuroQol EQ-5D-5L12 months from randomization

EQ-5D-5L measures individual generic health status using 5 dimensions: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression, and each dimension has 5 levels depending on severity of symptoms (1 no problems, 5 extreme problems) and a VAS (visual analogue scale). The scores can then be converted into a single index number. The index value will be used for calculation of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) for a health economic analysis of the intervention.

Process evaluation12 months from evaluation

Evaluation by participant-observations during training and patient sessions with subsequent qualitative semi-structured interviews with participants about their experience of the intervention components; however, only among participants who provide informed consent for this. Focus group interviews with nurse navigators and physiotherapists will be conducted about their perceptions of the intervention (facilitators and barriers).

Additionally, evaluation of intervention components will be measured using quantitative single-items questions.

Health behavior12 months from randomization

Measured by single-items questions related to physical activity, alcohol consumption and smoking behavior.

Self-efficacy and self-activation12 months from randomization

Measured by single items from Patient Activation Measure (PAM) and Health Education Impact Questionnaire (HEIQ)

Cost-effectiveness12 months from randomization

Evaluation by health care costs and QALYs (Quality Adjusted Life Years) between the two groups.

Trial Locations

Locations (6)

Aalborg University Hospital

🇩🇰

Aalborg, Denmark

Zealand University Hospital

🇩🇰

Roskilde, Denmark

Vejle Sygehus

🇩🇰

Vejle, Denmark

Odense University Hospital

🇩🇰

Odense, Denmark

Gødstrup Hospital

🇩🇰

Herning, Denmark

Sønderborg Sygehus

🇩🇰

Sønderborg, Denmark

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