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CompletedNCT01275495TASKIIUpdated Mar 31, 2015

Telephone Assessment and Skill-Building Intervention for Stroke Caregivers

A Phase 3 interventional study of Telephone Assessment and Skill-Building Kit (TASK II) and Information, Support, and Referral (ISR) in Stroke and Family Caregivers, sponsored by Indiana University. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 21 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2015-03-31.

Sponsored by Indiana University · Phase 3, Interventional, and Supportive care

Phase
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
254
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
21 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this study is to test the efficacy of the revised Telephone Assessment and Skill-Building Kit (TASK II) compared with an Information, Support, and Referral (ISR) intervention in family caregivers of stroke survivors. We will also test if TASK II intervention effects on primary outcomes (depressive symptoms, caregiving-related negative life changes, unhealthy days) are mediated through effects on secondary outcomes (task difficulty, optimism, threat appraisal). Comparative costs and outcomes for the TASK II and ISR interventions will also be explored.

Read the detailed description

Stroke is the number one cause of disability in the United States, and over 4 million stroke survivors are alive today. Many stroke survivors need the help of a family caregiver. A family caregiver is a family member or close friend who helps the stroke survivor once they go home. Many caregivers need information and support during the first few months after the stroke survivor is discharged home. One group of caregivers will receive the TASK II intervention and another group of caregivers will receive existing educational materials about stroke and caregiving through an information, support, and referral (ISR) process. Both groups of caregivers will receive written materials about stroke and caregiving by mail and weekly telephone calls by a nurse for a total of 8 weeks, with an additional call at 12 weeks. A research assistant will also call by telephone at the beginning of the study, and at 8, 12, and 24 weeks after the beginning of the study, with a follow-up call at 1 year to interview both groups of caregivers about their caregiving activities and about their own health and well-being. If shown to be efficacious, our next goal will be to translate the TASK II intervention into practice settings to meet current recommendations and guidelines that emphasize follow up care for stroke survivors and their family caregivers.

02

Conditions studied

  • Stroke
  • Family Caregivers

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Keywords

  • Stroke
  • Family Caregivers
  • Cerebrovascular Accident
  • Carers
  • Care Givers
  • Depression
  • Life change events
  • Family health
  • Quality of life
  • Cost
  • Intervention studies
  • Clinical trial
03

In context

Stroke

7,286 studies on the registry are indexed under Stroke; 2,007 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 254 is above the median of 50 across 5,369 interventional studies indexed under Stroke.

Browse Stroke studies →

Lead sponsor

Indiana University is the lead sponsor of 958 studies on the registry; 200 are open to participants now.

Of its 142 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 112 (79%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
21 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • Primary caregiver (unpaid family member or significant other) of a stroke survivor
  • No more than 8 weeks after survivor discharged home
  • Plans to be providing care for 1 year or longer
  • Access to a telephone
  • Willingness to participate in 9 calls from a nurse and 5 data collection interviews at designated study time points

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Caregiver or survivor age \< 21 years
  • Caregiver denies that survivor has had a stroke
  • Caregiver does not consider him or herself a caregiver, stating that the survivor is not impaired or is the same as before the stroke
  • Caregiver has low task difficulty (OCBS task difficulty score \< 16)
  • Caregiver communication difficulties (e.g., hearing loss)
  • Caregiver not fluent in the English language
  • Caregiver 6-item MMSE score less than 4
  • Survivor residing in a nursing home or long-term care facility
  • Survivor or caregiver has a terminal illness (e.g., cancer, end of life condition with decreased life expectancy, renal failure requiring dialysis)
  • Survivor or caregiver history of hospitalization for alcohol or drug abuse
  • Survivor or caregiver history of severe mental illness (e.g., Alzheimer's, dementia, suicidal tendencies, severe untreated depression or manic depressive disorder, schizophrenia)
  • Survivor or caregiver pregnancy
  • Survivor or caregiver is a prisoner or on house arrest
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 3
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
254 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Telephone Assessment and Skill-Building Kit (TASK II)

    The TASK II group will fill out a checklist about their needs and concerns, and will receive written tip sheets by mail that address the needs and concerns that they feel are most important. A nurse will call by telephone (lasting about 30 minutes or less) once a week for a total of 8 weeks, with another call at 12 weeks, to provide more information, answer questions, and to discuss more written tip sheets based on the caregiver's needs and concerns.

    Behavioral: Telephone Assessment and Skill-Building Kit (TASK II)

  • Active comparator
    Information, Support, and Referral (ISR)

    The ISR group will receive existing educational materials about stroke and caregiving developed by the American Stroke Association and weekly telephone calls by a nurse (lasting about 30 minutes or less) for a total of 8 weeks, with another call at 12 weeks.

    Behavioral: Information, Support, and Referral (ISR)

Interventions

  • BehavioralTelephone Assessment and Skill-Building Kit (TASK II)
  • BehavioralInformation, Support, and Referral (ISR)
06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Depressive symptoms: Patient Health Questionnaire Depression Scale (PHQ-9)

    Among caregivers who screen positive for depressive symptoms at baseline, those randomized to the TASK II intervention will have a greater reduction in depressive symptoms compared to those randomized to the ISR group from baseline to 8 weeks, after controlling for selected covariates. Long-term, sustained efficacy will be assessed at 12 and 24 weeks, and at 1 year.

    Time frame: Change in depressive symptoms from baseline to 8 weeks

  2. Caregiving-related negative life changes: Bakas Caregiving Outcomes Scale (BCOS)

    Caregivers randomized to the TASK II group will have a greater reduction in caregiving-related negative life changes compared with those randomized to the ISR group from baseline to 8 weeks, after controlling for selected covariates. Long-term, sustained efficacy will be assessed at 12 and 24 weeks, and at 1 year.

    Time frame: Change in caregiving-related negative life changes from baseline to 8 weeks

  3. Unhealthy days: Unhealthy Days (UD)

    Caregivers randomized to the TASK II group will have a greater reduction in unhealthy days compared with those randomized to the ISR group from baseline to 8 weeks, after controlling for selected covariates. Long-term, sustained efficacy will be assessed at 12 and 24 weeks, and at 1 year.

    Time frame: Change in unhealthy days from baseline to 8 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. Task difficulty: Oberst Caregiving Burden Scale Difficulty Subscale (OCBS)

    Caregivers randomized to the TASK II group will have a greater reduction in task difficulty compared with those randomized to the ISR group from baseline to 8 weeks, after controlling for selected covariates. Long-term, sustained efficacy will be assessed at 12 and 24 weeks, and at 1 year.

    Time frame: Change in task difficulty from baseline to 8 weeks

  2. Optimism: Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R)

    Caregivers randomized to the TASK II group will have a greater increase in optimism compared with those randomized to the ISR group from baseline to 8 weeks, after controlling for selected covariates. Long-term, sustained efficacy will be assessed at 12 and 24 weeks, and at 1 year.

    Time frame: Change in optimism from baseline to 8 weeks

  3. Threat appraisal: Appraisal of Caregiving Threat Subscale (ACS)

    Caregivers randomized to the TASK II group will have a greater reduction in threat appraisal compared with those randomized to the ISR group from baseline to 8 weeks, after controlling for selected covariates. Long-term, sustained efficacy will be assessed at 12 and 24 weeks, and at 1 year.

    Time frame: Change in threat appraisal from baseline to 8 weeks

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Indiana University School of Nursing
    Indianapolis, Indiana 46202, United States
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Bakas T, Li Y, Habermann B, McLennon SM, Weaver MT. Developing a cost template for a nurse-led stroke caregiver intervention program. Clin Nurse Spec. 2011 Jan-Feb;25(1):41-6. doi: 10.1097/NUR.0b013e318203cb92. PubMed 21139466 ↗
  • Bakas T, Farran CJ, Austin JK, Given BA, Johnson EA, Williams LS. Stroke caregiver outcomes from the Telephone Assessment and Skill-Building Kit (TASK). Top Stroke Rehabil. 2009 Mar-Apr;16(2):105-21. doi: 10.1310/tsr1602-105. PubMed 19581197 ↗
  • Bakas T, Farran CJ, Austin JK, Given BA, Johnson EA, Williams LS. Content validity and satisfaction with a stroke caregiver intervention program. J Nurs Scholarsh. 2009;41(4):368-75. doi: 10.1111/j.1547-5069.2009.01282.x. PubMed 19941582 ↗
  • Crocker TF, Brown L, Lam N, Wray F, Knapp P, Forster A. Information provision for stroke survivors and their carers. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021 Nov 23;11(11):CD001919. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001919.pub4. PubMed 34813082 ↗
  • Bakas T, Austin JK, Habermann B, Jessup NM, McLennon SM, Mitchell PH, Morrison G, Yang Z, Stump TE, Weaver MT. Telephone Assessment and Skill-Building Kit for Stroke Caregivers: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial. Stroke. 2015 Dec;46(12):3478-87. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.115.011099. Epub 2015 Nov 8. PubMed 26549488 ↗
  • McLennon SM, Hancock RD, Redelman K, Scarton LJ, Riley E, Sweeney B, Habermann B, Jessup NM, Bakas T. Comparing treatment fidelity between study arms of a randomized controlled clinical trial for stroke family caregivers. Clin Rehabil. 2016 May;30(5):495-507. doi: 10.1177/0269215515585134. Epub 2015 May 7. PubMed 25952589 ↗
  • Jessup NM, Bakas T, McLennon SM, Weaver MT. Are there gender, racial or relationship differences in caregiver task difficulty, depressive symptoms and life changes among stroke family caregivers? Brain Inj. 2015;29(1):17-24. doi: 10.3109/02699052.2014.947631. Epub 2014 Aug 20. PubMed 25141098 ↗
  • McLennon SM, Bakas T, Jessup NM, Habermann B, Weaver MT. Task difficulty and life changes among stroke family caregivers: relationship to depressive symptoms. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2014 Dec;95(12):2484-90. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2014.04.028. Epub 2014 May 22. PubMed 24858447 ↗
09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Mar 31, 2015, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT01275495
Lead sponsor
Indiana University
Collaborators
National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jan 12, 2011
Start date
May 2010
Primary completion
Jul 2014
Completion
Jul 2014
Last update
Mar 31, 2015

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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