CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT05387564Updated Jan 7, 2026Results posted

Increasing Documentation and Disclosure of Sickle Cell Trait Status: An Implementation Science Approach

An interventional study of SCT Documentation and Disclosure Toolkit (SCT-DD) in Sickle Cell Trait, sponsored by Nemours Children's Clinic. Completed at 1 site in United States. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-01-07.

Sponsored by Nemours Children's Clinic · Not applicable, Interventional, and Health services research

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
114
Allocation
Randomized
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The hemoglobinopathy newborn screen (NBS) performed on all neonates in the U.S. allows for early life-saving medical care for infants with sickle cell disease (SCD), an autosomal recessive genetic disorder. Because of its detection method, the NBS incidentally reveals hemoglobinopathy traits including sickle cell trait (SCT). In an effort to uphold the rights of the newborn to their medical data and preserve autonomy in medical decision making, pediatric and genetic society guidelines recommend disclosure and documentation of SCT results during infancy. Despite this guidance, a large guideline-to-practice gap exists: SCT status is grossly under-documented in the pediatric electronic health record and few adults report knowing their SCT status despite universal screening. We plan to evaluate the effect of a toolkit of SCT Documentation and Disclosure (SCT-DD) strategies on documentation and disclosure of SCT by pediatric primary care providers in a 2-arm randomized interrupted time series trial.

02

Conditions studied

  • Sickle Cell Trait

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Keywords

  • electronic health record
  • pediatric
  • newborn screen
  • implementation
03

Who can participate

Ages eligible
Child (0–17), Adult (18–64), Older adult (65+)
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Outpatient pediatric primary care providers within Nemours and their patients

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • none
04

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Health services research
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Sequential assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
114 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    "All-in"

    In the "all-in" arm, pediatric primary care physicians receive all toolkit components at once.

    Behavioral: SCT Documentation and Disclosure Toolkit (SCT-DD)

  • Active comparator
    "Add-in"

    In the "add-in" arm, pediatric primary care physicians will have sequential addition of toolkit components in 6 week increments

    Behavioral: SCT Documentation and Disclosure Toolkit (SCT-DD)

Interventions

  • BehavioralSCT Documentation and Disclosure Toolkit (SCT-DD)

    A toolkit of implementation strategies

05

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Acceptability

    Acceptability of toolkit components by pediatric primary care providers by survey at the end of the study (i.e. 18 weeks after initial roll-out of interventions). Reported as the number who answered Agree or Strongly Agree on a 4-point Likert scale that they liked the toolkit component. Likert scale options included strong disagree, disagree, agree, strongly agree.

    Time frame: At conclusion of study: 18 weeks after initial roll-out of interventions

  2. Self-efficacy

    Confidence to document/discuss SCT result by pediatric primary care providers by survey. Scale 1 to 10: 1 = not confident at all, 10 = extremely confident.

    Time frame: At conclusion of study (18 weeks after initial roll-out of interventions)

  3. Feasibility of Using Toolkit Components

    Number of pediatric primary care providers who used individual toolkit components in the last 6 weeks of the study (week 12-18) as indicated by answering "yes" to questions about whether individual toolkit components were used on a survey at the end of the study (18 weeks after roll-out of interventions).

    Time frame: Survey at end of study: 18 weeks after roll-out of interventions

  4. Penetration

    The number of newborns with newborn screen results visible in the electronic healthcare record and presence of documentation of abnormal newborn screen results. By chart review.

    Time frame: Chart review for retrospective patients was done before intervention roll-out. Chart review for prospective patients was done on a rolling basis at 2 months of age for any newborn patient seen during the 18 week intervention period

Secondary outcomes

  1. Knowledge

    Knowledge of newborn screen results by caregivers via survey.

    Time frame: Survey for retrospective patients was sent before intervention roll-out. Survey for prospective patients were sent on a rolling basis at 2 months of age for any newborn patient seen during the 18 week intervention period.

06

Results

Posted Jan 7, 2026
Limitations and caveats
Very small number of caregivers of children with sickle cell trait responded to survey requests.

Participant flow

Invitations were sent to the "physician in charge" of 20 pediatric primary care sites within one hospital system in the mid-Atlantic region. Seven (7) sites were interested in participating in the pilot project and randomized to intervention arms. Clinicians and caregivers at each site were then recruited via email. Each group of participants is designated as a separate time period below: Clinicians, Caregivers from the retrospective period, caregivers from the prospective time.

Clinician
Participant flow — Clinician
Milestone"All-in""Add-in"
Started1612
Completed1612
Not completed00
Caregiver Survey From Retrospective Time
Participant flow — Caregiver Survey From Retrospective Time
Milestone"All-in""Add-in"
Started2222
Completed2222
Not completed00
Caregiver Survey From Intervention Time
Participant flow — Caregiver Survey From Intervention Time
Milestone"All-in""Add-in"
Started1527
Completed1527
Not completed00

Outcome measures

PrimaryAcceptability

Acceptability of toolkit components by pediatric primary care providers by survey at the end of the study (i.e. 18 weeks after initial roll-out of interventions). Reported as the number who answered Agree or Strongly Agree on a 4-point Likert scale that they liked the toolkit component. Likert scale options included strong disagree, disagree, agree, strongly agree.

Time frame:
At conclusion of study: 18 weeks after initial roll-out of interventions
Reported as:
Count of participants · Participants
Acceptability
Participants"All-in""Add-in"
Liked the newborn screen EPIC prompt118
Liked the educational module118
Liked the reference materials105
PrimarySelf-efficacy

Confidence to document/discuss SCT result by pediatric primary care providers by survey. Scale 1 to 10: 1 = not confident at all, 10 = extremely confident.

Time frame:
At conclusion of study (18 weeks after initial roll-out of interventions)
Reported as:
Mean · units on a scale (1-10)
Self-efficacy
units on a scale (1-10)"All-in""Add-in"
Confidence to interpret the hemoglobinopathy newborn screen results8.55 ± 1.378.20 ± 1.32
Confidence to discuss hemoglobinopathy results8.27 ± 1.358.8 ± 0.78
Confidence to discuss inheritance of hemoglobinopathies8.73 ± 1.428.89 ± 0.92
Confidence to discuss reproductive options of hemoglobinopathies6.18 ± 2.487.0 ± 2.36
PrimaryFeasibility of Using Toolkit Components

Number of pediatric primary care providers who used individual toolkit components in the last 6 weeks of the study (week 12-18) as indicated by answering "yes" to questions about whether individual toolkit components were used on a survey at the end of the study (18 weeks after roll-out of interventions).

Time frame:
Survey at end of study: 18 weeks after roll-out of interventions
Reported as:
Count of participants · Participants
Feasibility of Using Toolkit Components
Participants"All-in""Add-in"
EHR Prompt1310
Educational video129
Reference Materials118
SecondaryKnowledge

Knowledge of newborn screen results by caregivers via survey.

Time frame:
Survey for retrospective patients was sent before intervention roll-out. Survey for prospective patients were sent on a rolling basis at 2 months of age for any newborn patient seen during the 18 week intervention period.
Reported as:
Count of participants · Participants
Knowledge
Participants"All-in""Add-in"
Survey respondents who reported they received newborn screen results - Retrospective1415
Survey respondents who reported they received newborn screen results - Prospective618
Survey respondents who reported sickle cell trait on their child's newborn screen -Retrospective02
Survey respondents who reported sickle cell trait on their child's newborn screen -Prospective01
PrimaryPenetration

The number of newborns with newborn screen results visible in the electronic healthcare record and presence of documentation of abnormal newborn screen results. By chart review.

Time frame:
Chart review for retrospective patients was done before intervention roll-out. Chart review for prospective patients was done on a rolling basis at 2 months of age for any newborn patient seen during the 18 week intervention period
Reported as:
Count of participants · Participants
Penetration
Participants"All-in""Add in"
Newborn screen available in EPIC - Retrospective424303
Newborn screen available in Careeverywhere - Retrospective167179
Sickle cell trait on newborn screen - Retrospective913
Sickle cell trait on problem list - Retrospective411
Sickle cell trait documented as disclosed - Retrospective42
Newborn screen available in EPIC - Prospective190190
Newborn screen available in Careeverywhere - Prospective5470
Sickle cell trait on newborn screen - Prospective49
Sickle cell trait on problem list - Prospective39
Sickle cell trait documented as disclosed - Prospective34

Adverse events

Collected over For Physicians: From enrollment until last survey completed (total 18 weeks). Adverse events not evaluated from chart review or caregiver surveys. Non-serious events are listed at a 5% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
"All-in"0/16 (0%)0/16 (0%)0/16 (0%)
"Add-in"0/12 (0%)0/12 (0%)0/12 (0%)

Baseline characteristics

Two sets of participants included: 1) Physicians who were the primary target of the intervention, 2) Caregivers who consented and completed surveys. As physicians were the primary interest, demographic characteristics and the majority of study outcomes were based on physicians enrolled.

Age, Categorical
Age, Categorical(Participants)"All-in""Add-in"Total
<=18 years000
Between 18 and 65 years161228
>=65 years000
Sex: Female, Male
Sex: Female, Male(Participants)"All-in""Add-in"Total
Physicians — Female13821
Physicians — Male347
Caregivers who completed surveys — Female364985
Caregivers who completed surveys — Male101
Race (NIH/OMB)
Race (NIH/OMB)(Participants)"All-in""Add-in"Total
Physicians — American Indian or Alaska Native000
Physicians — Asian224
Physicians — Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander000
Physicians — Black or African American022
Physicians — White13821
Physicians — More than one race000
Physicians — Unknown or Not Reported101
Caregivers who completed surveys — American Indian or Alaska Native112
Caregivers who completed surveys — Asian213
Caregivers who completed surveys — Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander000
Caregivers who completed surveys — Black or African American82735
Caregivers who completed surveys — White211738
Caregivers who completed surveys — More than one race213
Caregivers who completed surveys — Unknown or Not Reported325
Confidence regarding hemoglobinopathies
Confidence regarding hemoglobinopathies(units on a scale (1-10, 10 'extremely'))"All-in""Add-in"Total
Confidence to interpret the hemoglobinopathy newborn screen results7.33 ± 2.27.33 ± 2.07.33 ± 2.1
Confidence to discuss hemoglobinopathy results with family8.08 ± 1.837.5 ± 1.77.75 ± 1.76
Confidence to discuss inheritance of hemoglobinopathies7.19 ± 2.078.50 ± 2.207.75 ± 2.19
Confidence to discuss reproductive options for hemoglobinopathies5.8 ± 2.216.25 ± 2.996.00 ± 2.54
07

Study locations

1 site
  • Nemours Children's Hospital, Delware
    Wilmington, Delaware 19803, United States
08

References and documents

Study documents

  • Protocol and statistical analysis plan · Oct 21, 2025

Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05387564
Lead sponsor
Nemours Children's Clinic
Responsible party
Corinna Schultz (Attending Physician, Nemours Children's Clinic) — Principal investigator
First posted
May 24, 2022
Start date
Jan 18, 2024
Primary completion
Aug 31, 2024
Completion
Dec 30, 2024
Results posted
Jan 7, 2026
Last update
Jan 7, 2026

Study contacts

Corinna Schultz, MD, MSHP
principal investigator · Nemours

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
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