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Status unknownNCT01414751IMPACTUpdated Jan 10, 2013

Influence of Intervention Methodologies on Patient Choice of Therapy

An interventional study of Absolute risk reduction and Prolongation of life in Communication and Hypercholesterolemia, sponsored by University of Southern Denmark. Status unknown. Open to participants aged 40 Years to 69 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2013-01-10.

Sponsored by University of Southern Denmark · Not applicable and Interventional

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Jan 2013), so the status shown — last known as Active, not recruiting — may be out of date.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
248
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
40 Years to 69 Years
Sex
All
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Study summary

Few studies have explored how specific formats of effectiveness information effect on real patients' decisions. We only know little about what kind of format would be the optimal to help patients make well-informed real-life decisions corresponding to their preferences.

The trial is developed in a clinical randomised design to study risk communication in the shared decision making between general practitioners (GP) and their patients in primary prevention with of cholesterol lowering drug. Endpoints are effect of GPs' information about treatment effectiveness and their patients' values on patients' tendency to accept and adhere to the treatment as well as their feeling of content with the choice made. GPs are randomised to inform about risk and treatment effectiveness by means of either absolute risk reduction (ARR) or Prolongation of Life (POL). Afterwards patients are invited to answer questionnaires concerning their content with decisions and reflections. Patients' redemption of prescriptions during the following week and the first year are recorded through an electronic database.

57 GPs and 248 patients have been enrolled in the trial.

Read the detailed description

As chronic diseases are steadily increasing in the industrialized countries, there is a growing focus on preventive initiatives. This means that risk communication between the physician and his patients plays a central role.

Effective risk communication can enhance knowledge, involvement in decisions about tests or treatment, autonomy and empowerment of patients. Poor communication, however, can lead to anxiety, lack of confidence in health care professionals, and other adverse outcomes. It is vital that we identify the available evidence about how it should best be done.

The standard formats used to communicate intervention effectiveness are absolute risk reduction, relative risk reduction, number needed to treat, and life prolongation of life.

Few studies have explored the formats' influence on real patient decisions, implying that we only know little about what kind of format would be the optimal to help patients make well-informed real-life decisions corresponding to their preferences.

In a clinical randomized design risk communication is studied in the preventive talk between the general practitioner (GP) and his patients concerning cardiovascular diseases. Special focus is on influence of information format on patients' choice of therapy, adherence to therapy and satisfaction with therapy.

GPs are randomized to one of two groups, being taught in informing their patients by means of either absolute risk reduction, ARR or life extension, LE.

The setting is the preventive talk in the GP's clinic. From a measured total-cholesterol the GP informs his patient about the individual risk of getting a cardiovascular disease and the possible effectiveness of a cholesterol-lowering drug. This is done by means of either ARR or LE. After the talk the patient is invited to answer a questionnaire concerning personal experience with the information given (deadline 2 weeks after the talk), and again after 3 months will receive a questionnaire concerning satisfaction with the decision made and reflections. Patients' redemption of prescriptions during the following week and the first year are recorded through Odense PharmacoEpidemiological Database, OPED. The GPs' opinions, experiences and concerns about risk communication, prevention, and usage of statins are explored by means of questionnaires.

02

Conditions studied

  • Communication
  • Hypercholesterolemia

Keywords

  • Risk communication
  • Shared decision making
  • Cardiovascular diseases
  • Hypercholesterolemia
  • Prevention
03

In context

Communication

198 studies on the registry are indexed under Communication; 85 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 248 is above the median of 161 across 170 interventional studies indexed under Communication.

Browse Communication studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Southern Denmark is the lead sponsor of 335 studies on the registry; 45 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
40 Years to 69 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • 40-69 year-olds
  • Patients with a measured total-cholesterol of > 4 MMol/Litre

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with diabetes
  • Patients with known chronic cardiovascular diseases
  • Patients who are already being treated with cholesterol lowering therapy
  • Patients who are not familiar with the danish language
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Participant)
Enrollment
248 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Absolute risk reduction information

    Patients belonging to this arm receive effectiveness information by means of absolute risk reduction when talking with their general practitioner concerning their cholesterol level and possible gain if starting therapy.

    Behavioral: Absolute risk reduction

  • Active comparator
    Prolongation of life information

    Patients belonging to this arm receive effectiveness information by means of prolongation of life/life extension when talking with their general practitioner concerning their cholesterol level and possible gain if starting therapy.

    Behavioral: Prolongation of life

Interventions

  • BehavioralAbsolute risk reduction

    Patients receive effectiveness information concerning cholesterol lowering therapy by means of absolute risk reduction

    Also known as: ARR

  • BehavioralProlongation of life

    Patients receive effectiveness information concerning cholesterol lowering therapy by means of prolongation of life/life extension.

    Also known as: POL

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Patient's satisfaction and confidence with the information given.

    After receiving information about effectiveness of a possible therapy, patients fill in a validated questionnaire ("COMRADE") concerning confidence and satisfaction with the information given. The questionnaire is handed out immediately after information has been given (deadline for answering being two weeks after receiving the effectuveness information), and again after three months to detect adherence with the decision made.

    Time frame: Within two weeks after receiving the information and after 3 months.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Influence of effectiveness format on patients' consent or refusal to a therapy offer

    After patients have received the effectiveness information the secondary study focus will be on tendency to accept the offered therapy according to information format given. This will be studied by means of patients' redemptions of prescriptions, recorded through a pharmacoepidemilogical database, as well as background information about the patients.

    Time frame: Within the first week after receiving the information and during the following year.

07

Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

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References and documents

Publications

  • Harmsen CG, Kristiansen IS, Larsen PV, Nexoe J, Stovring H, Gyrd-Hansen D, Nielsen JB, Edwards A, Jarbol DE. Communicating risk using absolute risk reduction or prolongation of life formats: cluster-randomised trial in general practice. Br J Gen Pract. 2014 Apr;64(621):e199-207. doi: 10.3399/bjgp14X677824. PubMed 24686884 ↗
  • Harmsen CG, Jarbol DE, Nexoe J, Stovring H, Gyrd-Hansen D, Nielsen JB, Edwards A, Kristiansen IS. Impact of effectiveness information format on patient choice of therapy and satisfaction with decisions about chronic disease medication: the "Influence of intervention Methodologies on Patient Choice of Therapy (IMPACT)" cluster-randomised trial in general practice. BMC Health Serv Res. 2013 Feb 25;13:76. doi: 10.1186/1472-6963-13-76. PubMed 23442351 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jan 10, 2013, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT01414751
Collaborators
Danish Heart Foundation
Responsible party
Charlotte Gry Harmsen (MD PhD fellow, University of Southern Denmark) — Principal investigator
First posted
Aug 11, 2011
Start date
Nov 2009
Primary completion
Jun 2011
Completion
Aug 2013 (estimated)
Last update
Jan 10, 2013

Study contacts

Dorte E Jarbol, MD PhD
study director · Research Unit of General Practice, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is status unknown, as verified in Jan 2013. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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