A Communication Tool to Assist Older Adults Facing Dialysis Choices

Not Applicable

Active, not recruiting

• Conditions: Decision Support Techniques; Kidney Diseases; Late-Stage Renal Disease; Life-Supporting Treatments; Kidney Failure, Chronic; End of Life; Decision Making; Dialysis; End-Stage Renal Disease; Communication
• Interventions: Other: Best Case/Worst Case communication tool training

• Registration Number: NCT04466865
• Lead Sponsor: University of Wisconsin, Madison

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to test the effect of the "Best Case/Worse Case" (BC/WC) communication tool on receipt of palliative care and intensity of treatment at the end of life, quality of life, and quality of communication for older patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) receiving outpatient care at ten nephrology clinics. The intervention was developed and tested with acute care surgical patients at the University of Wisconsin (UW) and is now being testing to see if the intervention will work in a different setting.

The intervention will be tested with 320 older adults who have end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and are receiving care from a nephrologist enrolled in the study. Randomly assigned nephrologists within each site will receive the intervention (training to use the BC/WC tool) or to be in the waitlist control, meaning that they will not be offered BC/WC training until the end of the study, when all participants have been enrolled. Participants will be on follow up with surveys and chart review for up to two years after study enrollment. Caregivers will also be invited to participate and complete surveys.

Detailed Description

This study will test the effect of the Best Case/Worst Case intervention on receipt of palliative care and intensity of treatment at the end of life, quality of life, and quality of communication for older patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). This multi-site cluster randomized trial will enroll 320 participants who are making a dialysis initiation decision and receive care from a nephrologist trained to use the Best Case/Worst Case tool, or care from a nephrologist who has not been trained to use this tool (usual care). Randomly assigned nephrologists within each site will receive the intervention or waitlist control (upon study completion). Participants will be on follow up for up to two years after study enrollment via regular surveys and chart review. This study has three aims:

Aim 1: To test the effect of the Best Case/Worst Case intervention on (1) receipt of palliative care and (2) intensity of treatment at the end of life for older patients with ESRD. Chart reviews will be used to determine whether participants have received at least one outpatient or inpatient palliative care consultation within 12 months of enrollment in the study. These consultations must be clearly marked as palliative care, provided by a clinician with palliative care training and have documented discussion of goals clarification, advance care planning, symptom management, coping, spiritual needs, or end-of-life care. To measure intensity of treatment received at the end of life, it will be determined whether participants have had an ICU admission within 30 days of death as a primary outcome and ICU admission, emergency room (ER) visit, or hospital admission within 30 days of death as a composite secondary outcome.

Aim 2: To test the effect of the Best Case/Worst Case intervention on quality of life. The primary outcome for Aim 2 is quality of life as measured by the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy -Palliative Care (FACIT-Pal Version 4) at baseline, and every three months for up to 2 years after study enrollment. The hypothesis is that the overall quality of life will decline over time as participants become more infirm. The average change in health-related quality of life over time which has been shown to decline less with the receipt of concurrent palliative care will be compared.

Aim 3: To test the effect of the Best Case/Worst Case intervention on the quality of communication. To evaluate participant's assessment of nephrologist communication, the Quality of Communication (QOC) scale developed by Randy Curtis will be used. Unlike other measurements of physician communication that have high ceiling effects and limited ability to measure change, the QOC includes 7 items specific to end-of-life communication, which, if not performed by the clinician, are scored as zero. This will allow us to discriminate between quality of communication attributable to participant satisfaction (with high ceiling effects) versus content.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2020-07-07
• Study First Submitted QC: 2020-07-07
• Study First Posted: 2020-07-10
• Study Start: 2020-11-02
• Status Verified: 2025-02
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-02-11
• Last Update Posted: 2025-02-12
• Primary Completion: 2025-10
• Study Completion: 2025-10

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 407

Inclusion Criteria

• Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of less than or equal to 24
• Not currently on dialysis (participants are eligible if they have had intermittent dialysis in the past or have dialysis access in place but are not currently on dialysis)
• Participants must meet one or more of the following criteria: age greater than 80, evidence from the medical record that the patient has comorbid illness such that the modified Charlson score is 4 or greater, or a negative response to the standard "Surprise Question" ("Would you be surprised if this patient died in the next year?") from the participant's nephrologist.

Exclusion Criteria

• Currently on dialysis
• Lack decision-making capacity
• Do not speak English

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Best Case/Worst Case communication tool	Best Case/Worst Case communication tool training	The participant's enrolled nephrologist will have completed training on the Best Case/Worst Case communication tool and will be encouraged to use it with the participant.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Receipt of palliative care consult within 12 months of study enrollment, as determined by chart review or report by patient or caregiver	from enrollment up to 12 months, data collected up to 2 years	Number of patients with 1 or more palliative care consults within 12 months of study enrollment.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Initiation of dialysis as determined by chart review or report by patient or caregiver	From enrollment for up to 2 years	Number of patients initiating dialysis as determined by chart review or patient or caregiver report.
Documentation of new advance care planning during 2-year follow up as determined by chart review or report by patient or caregiver	From enrollment for up to 2 years	Number of patients with new documentation of advance care planning as determined by chart review or patient or caregiver report during 2-year follow up.
Treatment intensity at the end of life as determined by chart review or report by patient or caregiver	Within 30 days before death	Number of patients with 1 or more ICU admission within 30 days of death.
Hospice enrollment during 2-year follow up as determined by chart review or report by patient or caregiver	From enrollment for up to 2 years	Number of patients with documentation of hospice enrollment as determined by chart review and patient or caregiver report during 2-year follow up.
Treatment intensity at the end of life review as determined by chart review or report by patient or caregiver	Within 30 days of death	Number of patients with one or more of the following within 30 days of death: ER visit, ICU stay or hospitalization as determined by chart review or patient or caregiver report.
Surgical treatment intensity at the end of life as determined by chart review or report by patient or caregiver	Within 30 days of death	Number of patients who had one or more surgical procedure within 30 day as determined by chart review or patient or caregiver report.
Time to on-study death	From enrollment for up to 2 years	Time, in six month intervals, from baseline to 2 years. The Kaplan-Meier estimate reports the percentage of participants who experience death within 2 years from randomization. Participant death will be ascertained through medical record review and caregiver report.
Caregiver-reported quality of dying and death	3 months after death	Quality of dying and death as perceived by the patient's caregiver will be measured using the Quality of Death and Dying (QODD) survey that asks about the patient's final 30 days of life. Possible scores on this measure range from 0 to 100 and higher scores indicate higher quality of dying and death.
Receipt of palliative care during 2-year follow up as determined by chart review or report by patient or caregiver	From enrollment for up to 2 years	Number of patients with receipt of any palliative care as determined by chart review or patient or caregiver report during 2-year follow up.
Patient-reported health-related quality of life	Every 3 months for up to 2 years after enrollment	Patient-reported health related quality of life will be measured using the 19-item FACIT-Pal palliative care subscale (PalS). Possible scores for the PalS range from 0-76. Higher scores indicate better quality of life.
Patient-reported quality of communication (QOC) received from study nephrologist	48 hours after enrollment	Patient-reported general quality of communication will be measured using the 19-item Quality of Communication (QOC) scale. The QOC is a validated self-report instrument. The average composite score will be given with a possible range of 0-10. Higher scores indicate higher perceived quality of communication.
Patient-reported general quality of communication (QOC) received from study nephrologist	48 hours after enrollment	Patient-reported general quality of communication will be measured using the 6-item general communication subscale of the 19-item Quality of Communication (QOC) scale. The QOC is a validated self-report instrument. The average item score will be given with a possible range of 0-10. Higher scores indicate higher perceived quality of communication.
Patient-reported quality of end-of-life communication (QOC) received from study nephrologist	48 hours after enrollment	Patient-reported quality of end-of-life communication will be measured using 7-item end-of-life communication subscale of the 19-item Quality of Communication scale. The QOC is a validated self-report instrument. The average item score will be given with a possible range of 0-10. Higher scores indicate higher perceived quality of communication.
Caregiver-reported health related quality of life	Every 3 months for up to 2 years after enrollment	Caregiver-reported health related quality of life will be measured using the Cambridge Palliative Audit Schedule (CAMPAS-R). Possible scores on this survey range from 0-100 and higher scores indicate greater symptomology.
Caregiver-reported general quality of communication (QOC) received from study nephrologist	Within 48 hours after enrollment	Caregiver-reported general quality of communication will be measured using the 6-item general communication subscale of the 19-item Quality of Communication (QOC) scale. The QOC is a validated self-report instrument. Possible scores on this subscale range from 0-60. Higher scores indicate higher perceived quality of communication.
Caregiver-reported quality of end-of-life communication (QOC) received from study nephrologist	Within 48 hours after enrollment	Caregiver-reported quality of end-of-life communication will be measured using 7-item end-of-life communication subscale of the 19-item Quality of Communication scale. The QOC is a validated self-report instrument. Possible scores on this subscale range from 0-70. Higher scores indicate higher perceived quality of communication.

Trial Locations

Locations (10)

Northwestern University; 🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States

West Virginia University; 🇺🇸 Morgantown, West Virginia, United States

Johns Hopkins University; 🇺🇸 Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Department of Medicine, University of Vermont; 🇺🇸 Burlington, Vermont, United States

University of Washington; 🇺🇸 Seattle, Washington, United States

University of Pittsburgh; 🇺🇸 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Columbia University; 🇺🇸 New York, New York, United States

Mount Sinai School of Medicine; 🇺🇸 New York, New York, United States

Medical College of Wisconsin; 🇺🇸 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

University of Colorado, Denver; 🇺🇸 Denver, Colorado, United States