Effects of Repeated Decision Making Among Surrogates of Seriously Ill Patients
Completed · Not applicable
Conditions studied: Chemotherapy
In brief
Decision making capacity fatigues after repeated decisions similar to skeletal muscle. The result is decision fatigue, in which subsequent decisions are altered toward the status quo. Surrogates are at risk for decision fatigue yet it has not been studied. We propose a randomized study in the outpatient setting in surrogates and patients at high risk for needing to make complex decisions, in an effort to determine the impact of decision fatigue on surrogate self-control and subsequent choices.
Key facts
- Study ID
- NCT01723436
- Run by
- University of Pennsylvania
- People needed
- 132
- Starts
- 2012-11-01
- Expected to finish
- 2013-04-01
- Last updated by the study team
- 2015-01-29
Who can join
Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.
You may qualify if…
- Patients must have one of the following diagnoses: aplastic anemia, multiple myeloma, myelodysplastic syndrome, acute myeloid leukemia, stage IIIB or IV lung cancer, mesothelioma and/or stage IIIB or IV gastrointestinal cancer (pancreatic, biliary, esophageal, gastric, hepatocellular, colon), stage IV melanoma.
- Patients must have at least one surrogate at their clinic visit who is willing to enroll with them as a pair to be included.
- Surrogates are eligible if an eligible patient identifies them as as a surrogate and both consent for the study.
- All participants must be over the age 18
- All participants must be fluent in English
You may not qualify if…
- Patients and surrogates will be excluded if they are illiterate or have a medical condition known to alter Stroop performance. These include individuals who are visually impaired such that they cannot read a computer screen, blind or colorblind, patients given sedating medications during their appointment and individuals with past medical history of cerebrovascular accident, transient ischemic attack (TIA), seizure disorder, dementia or traumatic head injury with loss of consciousness.
- Patients will be ineligible if they have either tracheostomy or are currently on hemodialysis as these would significantly alter responses to the mechanical ventilation hypothetical scenario and the hypothetical life sustaining therapy question.
- Surrogates and patients are ineligible if their paired participant is excluded for any of the above reasons.
Where it is running
- Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov
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