Violence and Stress Assessment (ViStA) Project to Improve Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Management in Primary Care

RanD

Status and phase: Completed; Phase 2

Conditions: Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

Treatments: Other: PCM; Other: MEU

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NETWORK

Identifiers

NCT01401101

1R01MH082768

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to conduct a randomized trial of a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Care Management (PCM) program to detect, treat, and improve PTSD treatment processes and outcomes in patients seeking primary care from FQHCs and evaluate its effectiveness on improving the processes and outcomes of care for PTSD.

Full description

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a common problem seen in primary care but the identification and management of PTSD is not routine and would benefit from new approaches. Efforts must overcome patient-, clinician-, and system-level barriers, such as patients' fear of stigma, clinician's time constraints for dealing with psychological issues, gaps in clinician treatment knowledge, and difficulty arranging for referrals to mental health specialists.

Unlike mood disorders such as depression, little is known about improving care for PTSD in primary care settings. However, previous experience for treating depression, as well as existing guidelines for addressing PTSD in primary care, provide evidence that effective interventions exist and that multi-faceted interventions are more effective than a single-component approaches.

In this project, the RAND Corporation, Clinical Directors Network Inc., Georgetown University Department of Psychiatry, and University of Washington will implement and evaluate a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a PTSD Care Management (PCM) intervention to detect, treat, and improve PTSD treatment processes and health outcomes in patients seeking primary care from Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in Northeastern USA.

The three specific aims are to:

1. Evaluate the effectiveness of the PCM intervention compared to a minimally enhanced usual care (MEU) control in reducing PTSD and other mental health symptoms, and improving patients' health-related quality-of-life.
2. Assess the success of the PCM intervention implementation and,
3. Examine the direct costs of the PCM intervention compared to the TAU control treatment.

The PCM intervention was developed using principles of Community-Based Participatory Research (CPBR) methods in FQHCs that provide care to the underserved, and is tailored to the settings and populations we will study. This intervention is multi-faceted and includes components and strategies implemented through a Care Manager (CM) to overcome patient-, clinician-, and system-level barriers.

There are six PCM intervention components: 1) patient education, 2) patient screening and written feedback of screening information to primary care clinicians, 3) clinician education on practice guidelines , 4) structured feedback between primary care and mental health clinicians, 5) continuity of patient care, and 6) a resource guide detailing available community services where the FQHC has established reciprocal referrals. All of the intervention components will be implemented through the CM, except for the clinician education component, which will combine onsite and online continuing medical education (CME)-accredited sessions. The MEU condition will consist of only the clinician education and patient screening without written feedback.

Patients will be interviewed during a pre-screening stage to determine PTSD status. A total of 400 of the patients who screen positive will be randomly assigned to the PCM intervention or TAU.

Data will be collected from several sources. First, patients will be assessed at baseline, 6 and 12 months via interviews using validated instruments. Second, CMs will compile monthly aggregate data on patient management for patients assigned to the PCM program. Third, FQHC staff will be asked for their feedback about their experiences with implementing the program at the end of the study. The study team will use these data to estimate the direct costs of implementing the PCM program.

Enrollment: 404 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Has PTSD
• Has a scheduled or walk-in appointment with a participating PCC
• Speaks English of Spanish
• Is between 18 and 65 years old
• Expects to receive care in the CHC during the next year

Exclusion criteria

• Acutely ill and cannot participate in a discussion
• Does not understand the information

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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404 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

PTSD Care Management (PCM)

Experimental group

Description:

PCM has six intervention components: 1) patient education, 2) patient screening and written feedback of screening information to primary care clinicians, 3) clinician education on practice guidelines , 4) structured feedback between primary care and mental health clinicians, 5) continuity of patient care, and 6) a resource guide detailing available community services where the FQHC has established reciprocal referrals. All of the intervention components will be implemented through the CM, except for the clinician education component, which will combine onsite and online continuing medical education (CME)-accredited sessions.

Treatment:

Other: PCM

Minimally Enhanced Usual Care (MEU)

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

The MEU condition consists of only the clinician education and patient screening without written feedback.

Treatment:

Other: MEU