A randomized trial of chatbot for prenatal genetic counseling

Active Project Grant Awarded Last action

Award ID
R01HD111426
Recipient
Awarding agency
Obligated
$1,443,134

Award facts

Completion date 44% complete
Place of performance
Providence, RI 02905, USA

Award details come from USAspending.gov.

Description

Abstract
Current recommendations from the american college of obstetricians and gynecologists (ACOG) call for all pregnant people to be offered screening and diagnostic testing options for aneuploidy and carrier screening for cystic fibrosis and spinal muscular atrophy. As a result, the nearly 4 million pregnant people receiving prenatal care in the united states annually require access to the associated, and complex, prenatal genetic counseling. With these considerations and a commitment to person centered-care, informed decision-making is critical, and predicated on people having adequate knowledge of the benefits and risks of different testing options. Obstetric care providers have the challenge of addressing an ever-increasing number of topics during the first prenatal care visit, and prenatal genetic counselors face a high number of referrals. Yet there is a national shortage of genetic counselors with an uneven geographic distribution. The resulting lack of access to standardized prenatal genetic counseling can lead to patient misinterpretation of the goals or results of prenatal genetic testing and may be contributing to socioeconomic and racial disparities in prenatal genetic screening and diagnosis. Language barriers further exacerbate misunderstanding of prenatal genetic testing options. Mobile digital tools, including chatbots, provide an attractive alternative to in-person genetic counseling due to the near ubiquitous availability of mobile devices among patients and ability to ensure tailoring and standardization. Previous digital tools developed for prenatal genetic education showed promise, but most are instructional than interactive, computer-based rather than mobile-based, and do not include information on carrier screening currently recommended by ACOG. To address this critical need, a multidisciplinary team of perinatologists, genetic counselors, and digital health experts developed an innovative, patient-informed, mobile chatbot (IPRENATAL) to simulate a text and audio-based counseling discussion about aneuploidy screening and diagnosis. Preliminary data from our randomized trial of 258 english-speaking pregnant people showed significantly higher post- intervention knowledge scores among patients who used IPRENATAL compared with those who received routine provider education. We now propose to leverage this success by engaging users in formative work to create IPRENATAL+ and provide all content in english and spanish. We will evaluate IPRENATAL+ in a randomized controlled trial of 1,470 pregnant people in clinics serving racially and socioeconomically diverse pregnant women. Our specific aims are: utilize human centered design to transform IPRENATAL to an enhanced digital educational chatbot (IPRENATAL+) for prenatal genetic counseling (aim 1), determine the effect of IPRENATAL+ on patient knowledge and uptake of prenatal genetic testing, compared to in-person genetic counseling (aim 2), and assess ability of IPRENATAL+ to narrow the GAP in knowledge and uptake of prenatal genetic screening between english- and spanish-speaking patients, compared to in person genetic counseling (aim 3).

Transactions

Action Obligated Date
Amendment A randomized trial of chatbot for prenatal genetic counseling - current recommendations from the american college of obstetricians and gynecologists (ACOG) call… $724,504
Original award $718,630

Subawards

Subrecipient Amount Awarded
The Washington University A Randomized Trial of Chatbot for Prenatal Genetic Counseling $8,453
The Washington University $57,194
The Miriam Hospital $58,523
The Washington University $32,975
Rhode Island Hospital $79,704

Quick answers

Who received award R01HD111426?

R01HD111426 was awarded to Women & Infants Hospital Of Rhode Island by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (National Institutes of Health) on September 18, 2024.

How much is award R01HD111426 worth?

$1,443,134 has been obligated on R01HD111426.

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