Vascular Access Decision Aid (VADAS)

Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Coronary Artery Disease; Atherosclerosis

Treatments: Behavioral: Vascular Access Decision Aid

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01032551

MU-09-340

Details and patient eligibility

About

Coronary angiogram (CA) procedures, with and without angioplasty, can be performed via vascular access in the wrist (radial artery) or leg (femoral artery). Both radial and femoral artery vascular access have their advantages and disadvantages, but neither has yet been proven to have superior health outcomes. Often patients are eligible for both access sites but are not well informed regarding the potential advantages and disadvantages of each site. Vascular access in cardiac catheterization can be considered a "grey zone", where the benefits and harms may have different levels of significance depending on the individual's preferences and values. For example, patients with significant back pain may not prefer the femoral approach as it requires the patient to lie flay for an extended period of time compared to the radial approach.

For "grey zone" health care options, Patient Decision Aids (PtDA) have been demonstrated to improve the quality of decision making by significantly improving knowledge of the patient's health care options, improving the patient's accurate risk perception, and improving value congruence with the chosen options.

The investigators propose a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the decision quality impact of a vascular access PtDA compared to "usual care" in eligible patient's undergoing elective CA procedures. If the PtDA is demonstrated to positively impact the decision quality of patients prior to CA procedures, it would be an invaluable bedside tool to promote patient informed medical decision making.

Hypothesis:

The investigators believe that a PtDA, when compared to usual care, will positively impact the decision quality and the process of decision making, relating to vascular access options in eligible patients undergoing elective CA procedures.

Enrollment: 100 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• age > 18 years old
• English speaking
• able to provide informed consent
• is able to read the English language (however, if a patient is not able to read due to visual impairment, they may still be considered for enrollment if a family member is present to read and relay the content of the PtDA)
• candidates for both femoral and radial access as defined by the pre-assessment checklist and subsequently approved by their treating physician

Exclusion criteria

• any patients not meeting the inclusion criteria
• the interventional cardiologist performing the procedure does not feel comfortable or believes the patient is ineligible for either access (may include reason's not specifically outlined in the pre-assessment checklist)

Trial design

100 participants in 2 patient groups

Vascular Access Patient Decision Aid

Experimental group

Description:

The intervention group will receive a PtDA addressing vascular access for CA procedures. The PtDA is a brief lay summary that outlines, the purpose of the PtDA, a description of both femoral and radial approaches for CA procedures, what to expect from both approaches, the known risks/benefits of each access site (including a grading of the evidence), and a short assessment of the patients values. The values assessment is included in the PtDA as a means to help guide the patient through the decision making process. This section will ask the patient to explicitly state which features, risks, and benefits of each approach are important to them.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Vascular Access Decision Aid

Usual Care

No Intervention group

Description:

The control group (those not randomized to the PtDA) will have "usual care". Usual care involves a brief discussion, just prior to the CA procedure, with the treating physician, regarding the patient's eligibility for both vascular accesses, followed by the advantages and disadvantages of both. The details and duration of the discussion is left to the discretion of the treating physician as per their individual standard of care. There will be no access to a formal PtDA in this group.