A pre-consultation compassion intervention to reduce anxiety among patients referred to a cancer center: a randomized control trial

The objective of this trial was to test if an enhanced compassion video emailed to patients prior to their initial oncology consultation reduces anxiety compared to being sent a standard information-only introduction video.

We conducted a randomized control trial at a single university-based cancer center between May 2021 and October 2023. We enrolled adult patients scheduled for an initial cancer consultation. Subjects were randomized 1:1 to receive either a standard introduction video or an enhanced compassion video via email. The primary outcome was degree of anxiety on arrival to the initial oncology consultation, measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS).

Data fields.
video: randomization group
time_lag: time from video email sent to consultation (days)
hads_a: Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS) - anxiety total score
hads_d: Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS) - depression total score
five: 5-item compassion measure total score