Cascade Screening for High Cholesterol
What You Need to Know Before You Apply
What is the purpose of this trial?
The goal of this clinical trial is to test two implementation strategies (digital strategy vs. care navigator strategy) to promote family cascade screening for familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) in Penn Medicine patients diagnosed with FH ("probands"). The main questions this study aims to answer are: (1) evaluating the effect of the approaches on reach (proportion of probands who have at least one family member who completes screening), number of family members screened, proband engagement with the study, and proband LDL-C levels; and (2) use mixed methods to identify implementation strategy mechanisms. Participants (probands) will receive messaging that provides education about FH and provides instructions for participating in family cascade screening. A subset of participants will be invited to complete a qualitative interview about their experience receiving the implementation strategy. The research team will compare the arms to evaluate their effectiveness at promoting cascade screening.
Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?
This trial is for Penn Medicine patients diagnosed with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), a genetic condition causing high cholesterol. Participants must be willing to receive educational messages and help encourage their family members to get screened for FH.Inclusion Criteria
Exclusion Criteria
What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?
Interventions
- Cascade Screening
Trial Overview
The study compares two ways of encouraging families of people with FH to get screened: one uses digital tools like emails or texts, and the other uses support from a care navigator. The goal is to see which method helps more family members get tested.
How Is the Trial Designed?
2
Treatment groups
Experimental Treatment
A Penn Medicine-based care navigator will reach out to probands. During an initial call, the navigator introduces the proband to navigation services, conducts a social history, and initiates a plan for contacting relatives. Probands choose whether to contact relatives themselves (self-contact) or have the relative join a call with the proband and navigator. Those who choose self-contact receive personalized coaching to address barriers and concerns. All relatives will be offered FH screening at no cost. If a proband's initial choice of outreach is not successful, they will have the option of initiating the alternate outreach approach.
Probands receive automated text messages and/or emails from Penn Medicine containing information about FH and cascade screening and a request to share educational materials (provided by the study) with their relatives. All relatives will be offered FH screening at no cost. Probands will receive reminders to contact their relatives and behavioral economics-informed tips to encourage completion.
Find a Clinic Near You
Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?
Northwestern University
Lead Sponsor
University of Pennsylvania
Collaborator
Unbiased Results
We believe in providing patients with all the options.
Your Data Stays Your Data
We only share your information with the clinical trials you're trying to access.
Verified Trials Only
All of our trials are run by licensed doctors, researchers, and healthcare companies.