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Study protocol: pragmatic randomized control trial of an internet-based intervention (My tools 4 care) for family carers
Duggleby W, Ploeg J, McAiney C, Fisher K, Swindle J, Chambers T, Ghosh S, Peacock S et al.. BMC geriatrics, 2017-08-14
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Background Family carers of older persons with Alzheimer's' disease and related dementia (ADRD) and multiple chronic conditions (MCC) experience significant, complex, and distressing transitions such as changes to their environment, roles and relationships, physical health, and mental health. An online intervention (My Tools 4 Care) was developed for family carers of persons with ADRD and MCC living at home, with the aim of supporting these carers through transitions and increasing their self-efficacy, hope, and health related quality of life (HRQoL). This study will evaluate My Tools 4 Care (MT4C) by asking the following research questions: 1. Does use of MT4C result in a 3 month (immediately post intervention) and 6-month (3 months after intervention) increase in HRQoL, self-efficacy, and hope, in carers of persons with ADRD and MCC compared to an educational control group? 2. Does use of MT4C help carers of community-dwelling older adults with ADRD and MCC deal with significant changes they experience as carers? and 3. Are the effects/benefits of the MT4C intervention achieved at no additional cost compared to an educational control group? Methods/design Using a pragmatic mixed methods randomized controlled trial design, 180 family carers of community dwelling older persons (65 years of age and older) with ADRD and MCC will participate in the study. Data will be collected from the intervention and an educational control group at four time points: baseline, 1 month, 3 and 6 months. We expect to find that family carers using MT4C will show greater improvement in hope, self-efficacy and HRQoL, at no additional cost from a societal perspective, compared to those in the educational control group. General estimating equations will be used to determine differences between groups and over time. Discussion Data collection began in Ontario and Alberta Canada in June 2015 and is expected to be completed in June 2017. The results will inform policy and practice as MT4C can be easily revised for local contexts and is scalable in terms of posting on websites such as those hosted by the Alzheimer Society. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02428387.
Key findings
- Background Family carers of older persons with Alzheimer's' disease and related dementia (ADRD) and multiple chronic conditions (MCC) experience significant, complex, and distressing transitions such as changes to their environment, roles and relationships, physical health, and mental health.
- Does use of MT4C result in a 3 month (immediately post intervention) and 6-month (3 months after intervention) increase in HRQoL, self-efficacy, and hope, in carers of persons with ADRD and MCC compared to an educational control group? 2.
- Does use of MT4C help carers of community-dwelling older adults with ADRD and MCC deal with significant changes they experience as carers? and 3.
- Are the effects/benefits of the MT4C intervention achieved at no additional cost compared to an educational control group?
- We expect to find that family carers using MT4C will show greater improvement in hope, self-efficacy and HRQoL, at no additional cost from a societal perspective, compared to those in the educational control group.
Why it matters
This is a protocol describing a planned randomized trial of an online intervention for family carers of people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementia plus multiple chronic conditions. It will test whether the program improves carers' quality of life, self-efficacy, and hope, so no results on treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease are available yet.
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Study details
- Study designrandomized controlled trial
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 58/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a randomised controlled trial. Scored zero for sample size and effect reported because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 56 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 58 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (BMC geriatrics) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | BMC Geriatrics: journal h-index 153 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 11 / 12 | A randomised controlled trial |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2017 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study) |
| Randomised / blinded | 1 / 2 | Randomised (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | 3 / 7 | Cited 17 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 1 / 5 | 1.5 citations a year over 11 year(s) since 2017 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 2.2× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 3 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 3 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | OpenAlex's profile for last-listed author Lori Pollard holds only 2 work(s), too few to judge a track record — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | McMaster University: institution h-index 1,334 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 28806917) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 56 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 56 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 58 out of 100. |
| Total | 58 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Duggleby, W., Ploeg, J., McAiney, C., Fisher, K., Swindle, J., Chambers, T., et al. (2017). Study protocol: pragmatic randomized control trial of an internet-based intervention (My tools 4 care) for family carers. BMC geriatrics. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-017-0581-6
Vancouver
Duggleby W, Ploeg J, McAiney C, Fisher K, Swindle J, Chambers T, et al. Study protocol: pragmatic randomized control trial of an internet-based intervention (My tools 4 care) for family carers. BMC geriatrics. 2017. doi:10.1186/s12877-017-0581-6. PMID: 28806917.
BibTeX
@article{duggleby2017-28806917,
author = {Duggleby, W. and Ploeg, J. and McAiney, C. and Fisher, K. and Swindle, J. and Chambers, T. and Ghosh, S. and Peacock, S. and others},
title = {{Study protocol: pragmatic randomized control trial of an internet-based intervention (My tools 4 care) for family carers}},
journal = {BMC geriatrics},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1186/s12877-017-0581-6},
pmid = {28806917},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-017-0581-6}
}
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