NCT00129636

Brief Summary

As part of the NHS plan it has been proposed to extend some consultants' usual practices and to send all patients copies of the letters sent to their general practitioners (GPs) following outpatient consultations. The current Secretary of State for Health has further extended this proposal and suggested that patients should have a specific letter to themselves after a hospital consultation. The aim of this study is to send patients both a copy of the letter sent to their GPs and a specific letter to themselves and to assess the usefulness and comprehensibility of each.

Trial Health

87
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
84

participants targeted

Target at P50-P75 for not_applicable

Timeline
Completed

Started Mar 2004

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
completed

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

Click on a node to explore related trials.

Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

Study Start

First participant enrolled

March 1, 2004

Completed
10 months until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

January 1, 2005

Completed
6 months until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

July 1, 2005

Completed
1 month until next milestone

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

August 11, 2005

Completed
1 day until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

August 12, 2005

Completed
Last Updated

October 4, 2019

Status Verified

October 1, 2019

Enrollment Period

10 months

First QC Date

August 11, 2005

Last Update Submit

October 3, 2019

Conditions

Heart DiseasesLung Diseases

Keywords

post consultation letter

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

  • Comprehensibility of the two styles of letter

    (length, reading ease, Flesch Kincaid Grade, items misunderstood)

    Baseline

Secondary Outcomes (2)

  • Patient preferences for the letters

    baseline

  • Deficiencies in the patient letter

    baseline

Study Arms (1)

Patient attending hospital clinic

OTHER

patients were sent a letter especially dictated for them and a copy of the letter written by the hospital consultant to their GP to review

Procedure: Additional specific letter written to patient

Interventions

Additional specific letter written to patientPROCEDURE
Patient attending hospital clinic

Eligibility Criteria

Age18 Years - 90 Years
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersYes
Age GroupsAdult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

  • All patients attending respiratory/cardiology outpatient clinics

You may not qualify if:

  • Patients with reading/language difficulties

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

NHLI Imperial College

London, W6 8RF, United Kingdom

Location

Related Publications (1)

  • Roberts NJ, Partridge MR. How useful are post consultation letters to patients? BMC Med. 2006 Jan 20;4:2. doi: 10.1186/1741-7015-4-2.

    PMID: 16426444RESULT

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Heart DiseasesLung Diseases

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Cardiovascular DiseasesRespiratory Tract Diseases

Study Officials

  • Martyn R Partridge, MD FRCP

    Imperial College London

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
NA
Masking
NONE
Purpose
HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
Intervention Model
SINGLE GROUP
Sponsor Type
OTHER
Responsible Party
SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

August 11, 2005

First Posted

August 12, 2005

Study Start

March 1, 2004

Primary Completion

January 1, 2005

Study Completion

July 1, 2005

Last Updated

October 4, 2019

Record last verified: 2019-10

Data Sharing

IPD Sharing
Will not share

Locations

GB(1)