Risk Communication Within Mexican-American Families (NCT00469339) | Clinical Trial Compass
CompletedNot Applicable
Risk Communication Within Mexican-American Families
United States498 participantsStarted 2007-04-27
Plain-language summary
This study will examine what methods work best for encouraging Mexican-American family members to talk about their risk for diabetes, heart disease, breast cancer and colon cancer. Within the Mexican-American community, the family culture provides an important setting in which individuals interpret and share their health information and formulate strategies to engage in health-promoting behaviors. The information from the study will be used to design risk communication approaches for Mexican-American households.
Members of households with at least three adults 18 to 70 years of age who are part of the existing Mexican-American households recruited by the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center may be eligible for this study.
Participants are interviewed about their medical history, family history of disease, health behaviors, beliefs about disease and disease risk, experiences living in the United States, and relationships with family members and close friends. They are then provided information about their family risk for diabetes, heart disease, breast cancer and colon cancer, based on the information they provided in the interview. Two additional interviews are conducted over the telephone that include questions about how the participants communicate with family members about their risk and health behaviors.
...
Who can participate
Age range
18 Years
Sex
ALL
See this in plain English?
AI-rewrites the medical criteria so a patient or caregiver can understand them. Always confirm with the trial site.
* INCLUSION CRITERIA
* Member household of existing population-based cohort of Mexican-American households recruited by the Department of Epidemiology at UTMDACC. The existing population based cohort consists of self-identified Mexican-Americans living in predominantly Mexican-American neighborhoods in the Houston area. All individuals in the cohort are 18 years of age or older and had to be able to complete a personal interview.
* Household includes at least three adults (18 to 70 years of age) who are willing to participate in the study, where at least two of the household participants are related biologically and represent differing generations, and additionally in which one household participant is a spouse or partner of another household participant.
* Ability for each participating household member to complete one in-home survey instrument via computerized assessment tool or personal interview and to complete two telephone interviews.
* Ability of all household participants to speak either English or Spanish.
EXCLUSION CRITERIA
More than two household members are unable to complete the baseline questionnaire using a computerized assessment tool.
Questions worth asking your doctor
Bring these to your next appointment. They're a starting point for a shared conversation — not a sign you qualify or a recommendation to enrol.
1This study looked at how Mexican-American families talk about shared health risks for conditions like breast cancer, diabetes, colon cancer, and heart disease — given my own family history, could the findings from this research change how you'd recommend I communicate health risks with my relatives?
2The trial tested whether giving families personalized risk feedback together, rather than just focusing on one individual, led to better health-promoting behaviors — is there a way you could involve my family members in conversations about our shared risk for these conditions during my care?
3Since this study is completed, have any of its findings about how culture shapes health risk communication in Mexican-American families influenced the resources or strategies you'd suggest for someone in my situation?
4The research examined whether beliefs about whether a disease can be controlled affects how families respond to risk information — based on my family history for conditions like diabetes or heart disease, how should I think about what I can actually change versus what I can't?
5This study compared individual-focused versus family-centered approaches to discussing health risk — would you recommend I bring a family member to future appointments to have these conversations together, given what research like this has found?
Generated to help you prepare — always confirm anything about your own eligibility and care with the study team and your doctor.
Questions for the trial coordinator
The trial coordinator is the person who runs the study day to day. These cover the practical side — logistics, costs, and what taking part would actually mean for your life. The study team confirms whether you meet the criteria; these are questions to ask, not a sign you qualify.
1What does taking part actually involve week to week — how many visits, where, and how long does each one take?
2What costs are covered by the study, and what might I have to pay for myself, including travel, parking, or time off work?
3What happens during screening, and what happens if the study team confirms I don't meet the criteria after those tests?
4Who pays for the scans, blood work, and other tests the trial requires — the study, my insurance, or me?
5How will being in the trial affect my regular care, and will my own doctor stay informed and involved?
6Can I leave the trial at any point if I change my mind, and what would happen to my care if I do?
A starting point for the conversation — always confirm anything about your own eligibility, costs, and care with the study team and your doctor.
What they're measuring
1
Understand how culture and the familial social system facilitate or impede communications regarding family health history and risk for disease, and the development of strategies to adopt health promoting behaviors.
Timeframe: one survey and two telephone interviews
2
Investigate whether the type of personalized risk feedback (predisposing or predisposing plus enabling) affects family members beliefs about the causes and controllability of disease onset and perceived risk for disease.
Timeframe: one survey and two telephone interviews
3
Investigate whether shared perceptions of risk and beliefs about disease mediates the relationship between communications about family risk and the development of cooperative strategies to adopt health promoting behaviors within the family.
Timeframe: one survey and two telephone interviews
4
Examine whether a family-centered feedback approach, as compared to an individual-focused approach, encourages communications regarding family risk and the development of strategies to adopt health promoting behaviors within the household.
Timeframe: one survey and two telephone interviews
Trial details
NCT IDNCT00469339
SponsorNational Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)