Trial reportContemporary clinical trials2016
The Family Communication Study: A randomized trial of prospective pediatric palliative care consultation, study methodology and perceptions of participation burden.
Trial report in Contemporary clinical trials, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Interventions for interpersonal communication about end of life care between health practitioners and affected people.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- The Benefits and Burdens of Pediatric Palliative Care and End-of-Life Research: A Systematic Review.Journal of palliative medicine · 2019Pooled it
- Parent Coping Support Interventions During Acute Pediatric Hospitalizations: A Meta-Analysis.Pediatrics · 2017Pooled it
- Acute and Posttraumatic Stress in Family Members of Children With a Prolonged Stay in a PICU: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Trial.Pediatric critical care medicine : a journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies · 2022Trial
- Exploring end-of-life interaction in dyads of parents and adult children: a protocol for a mixed-methods study.BMC palliative care · 2018Trial
- Qualitative evaluation to improve participant engagement and retention in remote COVID-19 treatment trials.Discover public health · 2025Article
- [Significance and current development status of pediatric palliative care].Zhongguo dang dai er ke za zhi = Chinese journal of contemporary pediatrics · 2020Review
- Improving health, wellbeing and parenting skills in parents of children with special health care needs and medical complexity - a scoping review.BMC pediatrics · 2019Article
- When and Why Do Neonatal and Pediatric Critical Care Physicians Consult Palliative Care?The American journal of hospice & palliative care · 2018Article
- Nurses' Reflections on Benefits and Challenges of Implementing Family-Centered Care in Pediatric Intensive Care Units.American journal of critical care : an official publication, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses · 2018Article
- Conspiracy of Silence in Palliative Care: A Concept Analysis.Indian journal of palliative careArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTo describe the study methods, baseline characteristics and burden of study procedures of an intervention designed to reduce family stress symptoms through early support from the palliative care team. Length of stay of ≥8days was the trigger for early palliative care involvement.
methodsCluster-randomized trial with children as the unit of randomization. Up to 3 family members per child were recruited. Family stress symptoms were recorded at baseline, discharge from the ICU, and 3months post-enrollment. Questionnaire burden was assessed on a 1-10 point scale at each time point and open-ended comments were analyzed to describe the participants' experience in the study.
results380 family members of 220 children (control=115 children and 204 family members; intervention=105 children and 176 family members) were recruited, which represented 50% of all eligible families. Most family participants were parents (86% control; 92% intervention) and female (66% both groups). Retention rates were high through the 3-month follow-up: 93% and 90% for the control and intervention groups respectively. Questionnaire burden was very low: mean (sd) scores were 1.1 (1.6), 0.7 (1.5), and 0.9 (1.6) for the baseline, discharge and follow-up questionnaires, respectively. Comments suggest that participation was beneficial by promoting reflection and self-awareness about stress, coping and resilience, and feeling cared for because the intervention and questionnaires focused on their own well-being.
conclusionsThe participants' comments regarding the focus on them as the point of intervention reflects the value of conducting research with family members of seriously ill children during ICU stays.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.