Vitamin D Osteoporosis Long-Term Care Study

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Osteoporosis
• Interventions: Other: Educ sessions & LTC Osteoporosis toolkit

• Registration Number: NCT01398527
• Lead Sponsor: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

Brief Summary

The research question is, does a multifaceted, multidisciplinary intervention including small groups, chart audits and point of care tools, increase the number of people receiving optimal vitamin D therapy in the long term care (LTC) setting? Secondary outcomes include the number of falls and fractures experienced by the residents in each LTC home and the number of residents receiving appropriate bisphosphonate therapy.

Detailed Description

This is a cluster randomized controlled trial. In the long-term care (LTC) setting, more research is needed on how health care professionals can be kept up to date on the latest medical evidence for providing care to elderly residents. The LTC environment differs from other health care settings. We need to examine what types of strategies can be used to effectively educate LTC physicians, nurses, and other care professionals about the best care practices.

In this study, we will deliver and evaluate a multi-component educational strategy that builds on research in LTC by our team. In order to evaluate its success, 20 homes will receive the intervention and 20 homes will receive usual care. In the intervention homes, a team of experts will give educational sessions at the LTC home, delivering key messages about "best practices", helping LTC professionals to plan changes for delivering better care, giving feedback about performance, and providing materials (e.g., DVD, treatment plans). We will also train a professional in the home to "champion" the cause after the experts are gone.

The specific "best practices" topic we have chosen to test our model is osteoporosis and fractures. These conditions are very common in the elderly living in LTC and negatively impact quality of life. For example, an individual with a hip or other fracture may experience unnecessary pain and suffering and even pre-mature death. There are effective treatments that can be used to reduce fractures, including vitamin D, which is a low-cost, well-tolerated and easy treatment to deliver. Unfortunately our previous studies have shown that most LTC residents are not receiving effective fracture-prevention treatments. To determine our intervention's success, we will examine whether the rate of vitamin D use and other treatments increases, and whether fewer LTC residents fall and fracture. We are also interested in studying the strategy's format and feasibility and what future changes should be made.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2009-07
• Study First Submitted: 2011-07-19
• Study First Submitted QC: 2011-07-19
• Study First Posted: 2011-07-20
• Primary Completion: 2013-02
• Status Verified: 2013-05
• Study Completion: 2013-05
• Last Update Submitted: 2013-05-02
• Last Update Posted: 2013-05-03

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 40

Inclusion Criteria

• LTC homes in Ontario that are serviced by MPGI

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Educ sessions & LTC Osteoporosis toolkit	Educ sessions & LTC Osteoporosis toolkit	LTC homes will receive the LTC osteoporosis toolkit, on line webinar. Three educational sessions lead by an osteoporosis expert will also take place, 1 on-site visit and 2 webinars.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Number of LTC residents on vitamin D	16 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Number of falls and fractures	16 months
Vitamin D dose	16 months
Bisphosphonate use by LTC residents	16 months

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

McMaster University - St. Peter's Hospital; 🇨🇦 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada