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A Virtual Post-Discharge Intervention For Patients With CKD

Not Applicable
Not yet recruiting
Conditions
Chronic Kidney Diseases
Interventions
Other: Muti-faceted virtual, remote intervention
Registration Number
NCT05274347
Lead Sponsor
McMaster University
Brief Summary

This pilot, interventional study is testing a combination of remote, virtual interventions, delivered to patients at home to patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), with the goal of reducing admissions to hospital.

Detailed Description

Chronic kidney disease and kidney failure increase the risk of hospitalizations. Many hospital admissions are potentially avoidable. This pilot, interventional study is testing a combination of remote, virtual interventions, delivered to patients at home, with the goal of reducing admissions to hospital. The hypothesis for this pilot work is that the proposed interventions will be adopted by patients and will improve mental health, physical function, quality of life, and disease self-management, which are all key potential mediators of hospital readmission risk in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
NOT_YET_RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
30
Inclusion Criteria
  • Adults with CKD (defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate <30mL/min/1.73m2, including hemodialysis)
  • Able to provide informed consent.
  • Ongoing follow-up by the St Joseph's Hospital Hamilton Kidney Care Clinic or Dialysis Program and with a recent hospital admission.
Exclusion Criteria
  • Unable to speak or understand English.
  • Significant cognitive impairment (as per the treating inpatient care team)
  • Serious mental illness (schizophrenia, severe untreated bipolar disorder, psychosis, active suicidal ideation)
  • Significant vision or hearing impairment that prevents use of the technology or participation in any of the intervention components.
  • Being discharged to long-term care, rehab or complex care.
  • Peritoneal dialysis
  • Home hemodialysis
  • Functioning kidney transplant

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
SINGLE_GROUP
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Multi-faceted virtual, remote interventionMuti-faceted virtual, remote interventionThe intervention will use the Aetonix - aTouchAwayTM software platform (AETONIX Systems Inc). Each study participant will receive a tablet with Aetonix software. Interventions Components: 1. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): After discharge, patients will receive weekly group CBT sessions delivered virtually by a psychologist. Throughout the series of CBT sessions, patients will learn strategies for problem-solving, assertive communication, relaxation, behavioural activation, time-based pacing, challenging unhelpful thinking, building motivation, and goal setting. 2. Remote monitoring of vital signs and symptoms: Messages will be sent to patients asking them to measure their vitals, to report symptoms, and answer questions about medications. Concerning responses will be flagged for review by the patient's healthcare team.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Patient uptake of the intervention10 weeks

Patient use of the Aetonix platform and virtual intervention components. Uptake of the virtual CBT intervention will be determined by the number of attended sessions.

Patient acceptance of the intervention10 weeks

Acceptability of the technology will be determined by the proportion of patients who provide a mean Telehealth Usability Questionnaire (TUQ) score \>5/7. The mean TUQ score ranges from 1 to 7, with a higher score indicating greater acceptance of the intervention.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in disease self-efficacy10 weeks

Change in Self Efficacy for Managing Chronic Disease (SEMCD) score (measured every 2 weeks). The SEMCD score is the mean score from 6 items, with a means score range from 1 to 10. A higher score indicates higher self-efficacy

Change in overall self-reported health10 weeks

Measured every 2 weeks using the single question Global QOL score. Participants will be asked to rate their overall health as "excellent, good, fair, or poor".

Uptake of systolic and diastolic blood pressure monitoring10 weeks

Mean number of missing blood pressure values per patient.

Change in depression10 weeks

Change in Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) score (measured every 2 weeks). The PHQ-9 score ranges from 0 to 27. A higher score indicates a higher degree of depressive symptoms.

All-cause hospitalizations10 weeks

Hospitalizations will be determined by patient report directly into their Aetonix tablet (weekly question) or clinical staff following up on alerts for missed CBT/physio sessions or \>3 consecutive missed daily symptom/vitals questionnaires.

Patients' reasons for not participating in virtual sessions.10 weeks

This will be collected for further detail on the uptake of the intervention.

Patient satisfaction with the interventionMeasured at 10 weeks (study end)

Satisfaction with both the technology and virtual physiotherapy and CBT sessions. This outcome will be determined using a locally developed patient experience survey instrument that includes 13 questions asking patients to rate various elements of the intervention with the response options "strongly disagree", "disagree", "neutral", "agree", "strongly agree". The Satisfaction with Therapy and Therapist Scale- Revised (STTS-R) will be used to measure satisfaction with the CBT intervention.

Changes in management as a result of remote monitoring10 weeks

Mean number of alert values per patient from the monitoring pathway, mean number of alerts that resulted in a change in management per patient, mean number of medication errors detected per patient

Change in anxiety10 weeks

Change in Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) score (measured every 2 weeks). The GAD-7 score ranges from 0 to 21, with a higher score indicating a higher degree of anxiety.

Questionnaire completion10 weeks

Mean number of incomplete questionnaires per patient

Emergency room visits10 weeks

Emergency room visits will be determined by patient report directly into their Aetonix tablet (weekly question) or clinical staff following up on alerts for missed CBT/physio sessions or \>3 consecutive missed daily symptom/vitals questionnaires.

Change in self-reported quality of life10 weeks

measured week 1, week 5 and week 10 using the Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Scores range from 0 - 100 Lower scores = more disability, higher scores = less disability

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