Parent participation and physician-parent communication during informed consent in child leukemia

In this study we evaluated the effectiveness of a physician-directed intervention at enhancing positive physician behaviors and communication strategies during informed consent conferences (ICCs) for pediatric acute leukemia clinical trials.

Physicians at 2 large pediatric hospitals were recruited to participate in a physician-directed intervention (PDI), which included 1 full-day seminar and successive half-day booster sessions. ICCs were then observed, audiotaped, coded, and analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. Data also were collected at 2 control sites. Between 2003 and 2007, 59 ICCs were observed and analyzed.

Significant group differences were found in physician rapport-building behaviors. Physicians in the PDI + booster session group engaged in greater rapport-building than did physicians in the PDI group who did not attend booster sessions and physicians in the control group. No group differences were detected for physician partnership-building. In addition, parents in the PDI + booster session group engaged in more general communication and study-related communication, and mothers in the PDI groups asked significantly more questions per minute than did mothers in the control group.

These results provide support for the effectiveness of the PDI at enhancing positive physician behaviors. Booster-session attendance is a critical component of physician-directed interventions to improve parental participation and physician-parent communication during ICCs.