Clinical trial · Interventional
Spaced Education to Optimize Prostate Cancer Screening
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
Two memory research findings (the spacing and testing effects) can dramatically improve retention of learning, but they have largely have been ignored by educators. The researchers have developed a novel form of online education (termed 'spaced education') based on these two effects which has been shown in randomized trials to improve knowledge acquisition and boost learning retention. Using prostate cancer screening as an experimental system, the researchers investigated whether spaced education could durably improve clinicians' behaviors, not just their knowledge.
Conditions
Conditions (1)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prostate Cancer | Malignant Prostate Neoplasm | CURATED_EXACT | 0.92 |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online spaced education | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Spaced education clinicians - cohort 1
- description
- Spaced education clinicians receive four isomorphic cycles of 9 spaced education emails over 36-weeks (0-2 emails per week). Each email contained one question-explanation.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Online spaced education
- type
- NO_INTERVENTION
- label
- Control clinicians - cohort 2
- description
- Control clinicians received no intervention
Primary outcomes (1)
- measure
- Percentage of inappropriate prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening performed by clinicians
- timeFrame
- Weeks 1-108
- description
- The primary outcome measure was the difference in the percentage of inappropriate PSA screening performed by clinicians in the spaced education and control cohorts. Based on published clinical guidelines and reports, inappropriate PSA utilization was defined as the use of PSA for prostate cancer screening in patients \>76 or \<40 years old, or with an estimated life expectancy of less than 10 years.
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Primary care providers (physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants) from the 8 Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals in the New England region (Veterans Integrated Service Network 1 \[VISN-1\]) were eligible to enroll. Exclusion Criteria: * Primary care providers (PCPs) who ordered PSA as a screen for prostate cancer less than 10 times each year were excluded.
References
Publications (1)
- DERIVEDKerfoot BP, Lawler EV, Sokolovskaya G, Gagnon D, Conlin PR. Durable improvements in prostate cancer screening from online spaced education a randomized controlled trial. Am J Prev Med. 2010 Nov;39(5):472-8. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2010.07.016. PMID 20965387