Internet Self-Management Program With Telephone Support for Adolescents With Arthritis

Not Applicable

Completed

Brief Summary: This study will evaluate the feasibility of "Teens Taking Charge: Managing Arthritis On-line" intervention that will help adolescents with arthritis to better manage their disease and improve their health-related quality of life (HRQL).

Detailed Description: This feasibility study will (1) assess adolescents' willingness to be randomized; (2) pilot the intervention, attention control strategies (e.g., adolescents' 'own best efforts' at managing arthritis), and outcome measures; (3) determine adolescents' perceptions regarding acceptability of the web-based intervention; and (4) obtain estimates of treatment effects in primary (HRQL) and secondary (knowledge, coping, self-efficacy, stress, treatment adherence, pain) outcome measures to inform the calculation of appropriate sample size for the future RCT.

We hypothesize that adolescents with JIA in the web-based intervention will demonstrate: (a) improved HRQL; (b) increased disease-specific knowledge; (c) improved coping, self-efficacy, and adherence to prescribed management; and (d) decreased pain and stress compared to adolescents in the attention control group

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Exclusion Criteria

cognitive impairment
major co-morbid illnesses (medical or psychiatric) which may impact their ability to understand and use the web-based program.

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Attention Control Group	Self-Management	-
Internet-based JIA Self-Management Program	Teens Taking Charge	-

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Juvenile Arthritis Quality of Life Questionnaire (JAQQ)	Baseline (prior to randomization) and 3 months after intervention	The questionnaire is divided into 4 dimensions: gross motor function, fine motor function, psychosocial function, and general symptoms. A 7-point ordinal scale is used to rate responses to each item from 1 (none of the time) to 7 (all of the time), based on how often the item was a problem for the child over the past 2 weeks. Total score was composed of the 4 dimension scores (top 5 items of that dimension) divided by 4, with higher scores denoting poorer HRQOL.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Pain Coping (Pain Coping Questionnaire)	Baseline (prior to randomization) and 3 months after intervention
Children's Arthritis Self-Efficacy Scale (CASE)	3 months after intervention	Measure looks at Self-efficacy. Subscales: Activity, Emotion, Family. Subscale scores range 0 - 10 with higher scores indicating greater self-efficacy.
Medical Issues Sub-Scale From Medical Issues, Exercise, Pain, and Social Support Questionnaire (MEPS)	3 months after intervention	Measure looks at disease specific knowledge. Subscale used: Medical Issues Subscale scores range from 0 (min) - 10 (max) with higher scores indicating greater knowledge.
Child Adherence Report Questionnaire (CARQ)	3 months after intervention	Measure examines adherence to treatment. Subscales: Treatment Adherence to: Medication, Exercise, Splints. Subscale scores rage 0 - 10 with higher scores indicate better overall child ability in relation to following treatment recommendations.
Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ)	3 months after intervention	Measure examines stress. Total score calculated was an average of all items with a range from 1-4 with higher scores indicating greater stress.

Locations (4): BC Children's Hospital
🇨🇦
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
IWK Health Center
🇨🇦
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Montreal Children's Hospital
🇨🇦
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
The Hospital for Sick Children
🇨🇦
Toronto, Ontario, Canada