Trial Information

Internet-Based Education for Prostate Cancer Screening

In Phase I (months 1-8) of this five-year project, we will develop an interactive,
Internet-based, patient information and decision aid. In Phase II (months 9-60), we will
evaluate the impact of this decision aid in a randomized controlled trial with male primary
care patients aged 45-70 from three Washington, District of Columbia area health care
settings (N = 1875). Trial arms include: 1) print-based information and decision aid
(Print), 2) web-based information plus interactive decision aid (Web), and 3) usual care
(UC). Subjects will complete outcome assessments at baseline, one- and 13-months
post-baseline. The specific aims are to: 1. Evaluate the impact of the delivery method (Web
vs. Print vs. Usual Care) on the key patient outcome variables of knowledge, decisional
satisfaction, and the screening decision. 2. Identify factors that moderate the
interventions' impact on the primary outcomes. 3. Identify the mechanisms by which the
interventions impact knowledge and decisional satisfaction. In exploratory analyses, we will
evaluate factors that are related to use of the web and print materials. This research has
the potential to make several significant and innovative contributions: 1) the development
and evaluation of a widely accessible method of educating a heterogeneous group of patients
about a controversial topic, which can be adapted for other similarly contentious issues, 2)
a determination of whether Web based materials are a feasible method of patient education
for this age cohort, compared to print materials, 3) an understanding of cognitive factors
that may hinder comprehension of a controversial medical decision, 4) a determination of who
among the target population benefits the most from a web-based intervention, and 5) the
information required to streamline and target future web-based educational interventions.