Using Virtual Counselors to Overcome Genetic Literacy Barriers (VICKY)

Boston University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Diabetes; Stroke; Cancer; Heart Disease

Treatments: Behavioral: MFHP; Behavioral: VICKY

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT02344433

H-32767

1R01HG007746-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

A Relational Agent (RA) "virtual counselor" (VICKY: VIrtual Counselor for Knowing Your Family History) has been developed to collect family health history information for common health conditions including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, hypertension and various cancers. In this study, the investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to compare the efficacy of using VICKY to the existing My Family Health Portrait (MFHP) tool for collecting family health history information among an underserved primary care patient population. The primary aims of the study are to 1) evaluate the efficacy of VICKY versus MFHP for collecting accurate family health histories and 2) determine whether accuracy varies as a function of health literacy. This project will obtain validation data on the efficacy of both VICKY and MFHP for collecting accurate family history data among an underserved patient population, in two languages (English and Spanish). The study will determine whether a virtual counselor can overcome many of the existing barriers to using traditional web-based family history tools.

Enrollment: 279 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 21+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 21 years of age or older;
• current Boston Medical Center patient - must have an upcoming returning patient appointment at Boston Medical Center or affiliated clinic within 3 months of recruitment;
• speaks English and/or Spanish.

Exclusion criteria

• Under 21 years of age;
• not a current patient of Boston Medical Center or affiliated clinic;
• unable to speak English and/or Spanish.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Screening

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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279 participants in 2 patient groups

VICKY

Experimental group

Description:

Relational agent, "virtual counselor" for collecting family health history (VICKY: VIrtual Counselor for Knowing Your Family History).

Treatment:

Behavioral: VICKY

MFHP

Active Comparator group

Description:

Online family health history collection tool (MFHP: My Family Health Portrait).

Treatment:

Behavioral: MFHP