Improving Discharge Communication in the Emergency Department Through Information Structuring

NCT02468869 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: BACOP2
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 196
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of the proposed study is to assess the potential of information structuring for improving discharge communication. Specifically, the investigators aim to examine the advantages of an information-structuring skills training for physicians (compared to an empathy skills training) on discharge communication and associated patient outcomes, such as patients' information recall and adherence to physician recommendations. The investigators hypothesize that patients receiving structured discharge information from their trained physicians will be able to recall more information and show higher adherence to recommendations relative to controls (i.e., patients receiving discharge information from doctors trained in empathy skills).

Conditions

Information Structuring Skills; Empathy Skills

Keywords

Recall; Discharge communication; Satisfaction; Adherence; Information structuring; Empathy skills

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Patients' recall of the information provided during discharge communication

  3 times: immediately after discharge, one week after discharge, one month after discharge

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Adherence to recommendations

  2 times: one week and one month after discharge

• Patient satisfaction in four dimensions

  Immediately after discharge

Study Arms (2)

Information structuring skills training

EXPERIMENTAL

Physicians received a communication skills training focusing on information structuring with the so-called book metaphor for a structured discharge communication with the patient.

Behavioral: Communication skills training "information structuring skills"

Empathy skills training

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Physicians received a communication skills training focusing on empathy skills with the acronym NURSE for an empathetic discharge communication with the patient.

Behavioral: Communication skills training "empathy skills"

Interventions

Communication skills training "empathy skills" BEHAVIORAL

Empathy skills training

Communication skills training "information structuring skills" BEHAVIORAL

Information structuring skills training

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Outpatients with chest pain
• Outpatients with abdominal pain

You may not qualify if:

• Patients younger than 18 years of age (limited ability to provide informed consent)
• Patients with limited ability to communicate in German, the default language at the hospital (confounder related to language proficiency)
• Patients with dementia (confounder arising from pathological memory deficits)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland: lead
• University of Basel: collaborator
• Max Planck Institute for Human Development: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University Hospital Basel, Emergency Department

Basel, Canton of Basel-City, 4031, Switzerland

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Personal Satisfaction

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Study Officials

• Roland Bingisser, Prof. Dr.

  University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 27, 2015
• First Posted: June 11, 2015
• Study Start: April 1, 2015
• Primary Completion: April 1, 2017
• Study Completion: April 1, 2017
• Last Updated: October 23, 2018

Record last verified: 2018-10

Locations

CH (1)