Recruiting

Observational Study

Sponsor:

National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)

Code:

NCT05007990

Conditions

Inherited Metabolic Disorders

Undiagnosed Diseases

Batten's Disease

Tay Sachs

Diabetes

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Study Details

Brief summary:

Background:

In the U.S., about 53 million informal, unpaid caregivers provide care to a person who is ill, is disabled, or has age-related loss of function. These caregivers may be adult children, spouses, parents, or others. The stress of providing long-term care affects caregivers health and well-being. Researchers want to learn more about this stress and its effects.

Objective:

To learn how the caregiving process affects the health and well-being of caregivers over time.

Eligibility:

Adults aged 18 years and older who are caregivers for a person with a chronic medical condition and who have already given consent to take part in other study activities.

Design:

Participants will be put in different groups. They will complete some or all of the following tasks over 1 year. They may repeat these tasks once a year for up to 5 years.

Participants will fill out 2 online surveys. One will ask about their health and their caregiving experience. The other will ask them to list people in their social network and their care recipient s social network who give them support.

Participants will have a 2-part phone interview. It will be audio recorded. In part 1, they will be asked about the people they listed in the survey. In part 2, they will be asked about their caregiving experience and events in the care recipient s life.

Participants may fill out a weeklong diary every 3 months. It will ask about their daily social activities, well-being, and stress levels. It will also ask about their thoughts and feelings about caregiving.

Participants may give a blood sample each year they are in the study.

...

Conditions

Inherited Metabolic Disorders

Undiagnosed Diseases

Batten's Disease

Tay Sachs

Diabetes

Study ID

NCT05007990

Start date

Sep 8, 2022

Status verified date

Sep 4, 2026

Completion date

Dec 31, 2030

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec 31, 2030

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

  • INCLUSION CRITERIA:

To be eligible to participate in this study, an individual must meet all of the following criteria:

  • Adults aged 18 years and older
  • If the Care Recipient is living, they must self-identify as a primary caregiver to the Care Recipient (individual with a chronic medical condition), OR if the Care Recipient is deceased, they must self-identify as having been a primary caregiver to the now-deceased Care Recipient, OR they must otherwise be identified (i.e., referred) by a participant as a part of the caregiving network
  • Ability to consent to research
  • Fluency in English will be needed to complete interview as well as to read, comprehend surveys and consent forms, as appropriate validated measures in other languages are not readily available.
  • Physically capable of participating in applicable assessments

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

An individual who meets any of the following criteria will be excluded from this study:

  • Care Recipients (as defined in this protocol)
  • Staff of NHGRI

Staff of NHGRI are unable to participate in this study as a safeguard against the risk of ethical concerns. As per OHSRP SOP 404, NIH staff may be a vulnerable class of study subjects. Excluding staff of the Institute conducting the study assures there will not be any perceived or actual conflict of interest, pressure/coercion to participate among co-workers, subordinates, work unit-members, etc. As further noted in OHSRP SOP 404, exclusion further protects this class of subjects privacy and confidentiality; and protects the study s scientific integrity.

Persons with impaired neuro-sensory or decision-making ability (adults unable to provide consent) will not be enrolled in the study. Persons with impaired neuro-sensory or decision making ability would not be able to participate with independent responses to the various social behavioral measures we use in the study interview and survey. Learning information about these individuals through other people instead of themselves would introduce bias to this study.

Study Design

Enrollment

2800 participants

Anticipated

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

Active

Participants include individuals who are caregivers of an individual with a chronic medical condition, OR individuals who support caregivers of an individual with a chronic medical condition.

Bereaved

Participants include individuals who were caregivers of an individual with a chronic medical condition who has died, OR individuals who support the caregiver.

Primary outcome measure

  • Natural History [ Time Frame: Annually / quarterly ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Laura M Koehly, Ph.D.

(301) 451-3999koehlyl@mail.nih.gov

Locations

National Institutes of Health Clinical Center

Recruiting

Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892

Contacts

For more information at the NIH Clinical Center contact Office of Patient Recruitment (OPR)

800-411-1222ccopr@nih.gov

More Information

Sponsor

National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)

Last update posted

Sep 9, 2026

Last verified

Sep 4, 2026

Keywords

  • Social Support
  • Rare Diseases
  • Natural History
  • Genetic Conditions
  • Family Network

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) on 2026-09-09.