Trial to Reduce Antimicrobial Use In Nursing Home Residents With Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Infection, Bacterial
Dementia

Interventions: Behavioral: TRAIN-AD

Registration Number: NCT03244917

Lead Sponsor: Hebrew SeniorLife

Brief Summary: This is a 52-month study (8 months preparation; 36 months to conduct the trial; 8 months data analyses and manuscript preparation) of a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) of an intervention to improve infection management for suspected UTIs and LRIs among residents with advanced dementia (N=480; N=240/arm) living in NHs (N=24; N=12/arm). The NH is the unit of randomization as the intervention must be delivered at the facility level to avoid contamination and because this is how it would be employed in the real-world. Analyses will be at the patient level.

Detailed Description: The final stage of dementia is characterized by recurrent suspected infections. Research has shown these episodes are widely mismanaged, leading to adverse patient and public health outcomes. Antimicrobials are extensively prescribed in advanced dementia, most often in the absence of clinical evidence to support a bacterial infection. Antimicrobial exposure is the main risk factor for multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs). Nursing home (NH) residents with advanced dementia are three times more likely to be colonized with MDROs compared to other residents. Moreover, as these patients are in the terminal phase of dementia, evidence suggests they may not clinically benefit from antimicrobials. Comfort is the stated goal of care for 90% of advanced dementia patients, and the risks and burdens associated with work-up and treatment of suspected infections generally do not promote that goal, particularly when hospitalization is involved. Taken together, there is a clear need to improve infection management in advanced dementia both to provide better end-of-life care to these patients and reduce the public health threat of MDROs.

This is a 52-month study (8 months preparation; 36 months to conduct the trial; 8 months data analyses and manuscript preparation) of a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) of an intervention to improve infection management for suspected UTIs and LRIs among residents with advanced dementia (N=410; N=205/arm) living in NHs (N=28; N=14/arm). The NH is the unit of randomization as the intervention must be delivered at the facility level to avoid contamination and because this is how it would be employed in the real-world. Analyses will be at the patient level.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 430

Inclusion Criteria

Facility inclusion criteria

More than 60 beds
Within 60 miles of Boston

Resident inclusion eligibility criteria

Age > or = to 60 years
A diagnosis of dementia (any type)
Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) score of 7
NH length of stay >90 days
An individual who can communicate in English has been formally or informally designated as a health care proxy
Not comatose GDS stage 7 features include: profound memory deficits (cannot recognize family), total functional dependence, speech <= 5 words, incontinence, and non-ambulatory. GDS 7 was chosen to define advanced dementia as it has been successfully operationalized and validated in or prior studies, and experts agreed to use this definition in research studies. A 90 day minimum length of stay was chosen to exclude short-stay patients.

Provider inclusion criteria

Direct care provider of advanced dementia residents (a nurse, nurse practitioner, physician or physician assistant identified by a senior administrator as an individual who cares for residents with advanced dementia)
Can communicate in English (because intervention materials are all in English),
Over 21 years of age.

Exclusion Criteria

Residents with cognitive impairment due to causes other than dementia (e.g., head trauma and in short-term, sub-acute SNFs) will be excluded.

Residents' whose proxies cannot communicate in English will be excluded from the study, because the information directed to proxies are only in English.

Providers that do not provide direct care to residents with advanced dementia or who do not speak English.

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
TRAIN-AD	TRAIN-AD	The study intervention is a multi-component training and education program targeting direct care providers and healthcare proxies for advanced dementia NH residents, intended to improve the management of urinary and lower respiratory tract infections in advanced dementia patients. There are two components to this practice intervention: 1. Provider Training, and 2. Proxy Education.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Total Antimicrobial Use for LRI and UTIs	12 months	The investigators will compare the total number of antimicrobial courses for suspected UTIs and LRIs/person-year (primary outcome) over 12 months in the intervention vs. control (usual care) arms. Data will be obtained from review of the residents' charts and medication administration records q2months up to 12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Antimicrobial Use When Minimal Criteria Are Absent for LRI and UTIs	12 months	The investigators will compare the number of antimicrobial courses prescribed for suspected UTIs and LRIs when minimal criteria for treatment initiation are absent based on consensus guidelines/person-year (secondary outcome) in the intervention vs. control arm over 12 months.
Burdensome Interventions	12 months	The investigators will compare the number of burdensome procedures used to evaluate suspected LRIs and UTIs (hospital transfer, bladder catheterization, chest x-ray, blood draws)/person-year between the intervention versus control arm
Total Antimicrobial Use	12 months	The investigators will compare the total number of antimicrobial courses prescribed for any reason /person-year over 12 months in the intervention vs. control (usual care) arms. Data will be obtained from review of the residents' charts and medication administration records q2months up to 12 months