The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of "Primary Bereavement Care" (PBC) -a standardized bereavement intervention- delivered by family physicians (FP), in widows.

Condition	Intervention	Phase
Bereavement Grief	Behavior: Primary Bereavement Care	Phase III

Further Study Details: 

Primary Outcomes: Texas Revised Inventory of Grief (TRIG); Grief Experience Inventory (GEI); General Health Questionnaire - 28 items (GHQ-28); SF-36 Health Profile (SF-36); all the primary outcomes are assessed at 3, 9, 15 and 21 months since death.
Secondary Outcomes: Criteria of Complicated Grief at 13 months since death; Inventory of Complicated Grief - Revised (ICG-R) at 21 months since death.
Expected Total Enrollment:  98

Nowadays there is little evidence about what is the best bereavement intervention in primary care and each family physician (FP) assists bereaved people in a different way. The death of a loved one is the most stressful life event that can face a person; in fact, bereavement is associated with an increased risk of depression, generalized anxiety and panic disorder, alcohol abuse and use of medications, sudden cardiac events, suicide, and an increased demand for health resources. The FP is the only specialist who -through his position in the health system and in the community- can give emotional support to the bereaved and simultaneously deal with the health problems associated with the process. In response to this, our work group has designed a guide specifically for FP: Primary Bereavement Care (PBC), and is currently testing its efficacy in a randomized controlled study.

Comparison (s): Recently widows attended by FP trained in PBC through seven PBC sessions, compared to recently widows attended by FP not trained in PBC through seven "ordinary" sessions.

Ages Eligible for Study:  up to  70 Years,  Genders Eligible for Study:  Female

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Partner death during the last 3 months.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Partner death through suicide or AIDS.
• Son or daughter death during the last 3 years.
• Parent or sibling death the year before.
• Alcohol or drug abuse.
• Psychotic disorder or dementia.
• To be confined to bed
• Illiteracy.

Spain, Bizkaia
      Primary Care Research Unit of Bizkaia, Basque Health Service/Osakidetza, Bilbao,  Bizkaia,  48014,  Spain

Study chairs or principal investigators

Jesus A. Garcia, MD,  Principal Investigator,  Primary Care Research Unit of Bizkaia, Basque Health Service/Osakidetza.   

Study ID Numbers:  PI020827; 200011007
Last Updated:  August 22, 2005
Record first received:  August 22, 2005
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:  NCT00133263
Health Authority: Spain: Ministry of Health and Consumption
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on 2005-09-13