An Adjunct Test Distinguishing Bacterial From Viral Etiology Improves Resource Utilization and Efficiency in the ED.
- Conditions
- Respiratory Tract Infections
- Interventions
- Diagnostic Test: MeMed BV® biomarker testDiagnostic Test: Usual care
- Registration Number
- NCT06070688
- Brief Summary
The purpose of this study is to evaluate overall changes in patient management and longer-term resource utilization between control and test arms, including (but not limited to) additional work-up (including other diagnostic tests and consults), antimicrobial treatments, disposition decisions and hospital length of stay (LOS)
- Detailed Description
The trial seeks to compare the benefits of adding a diagnostic test that can distinguish the etiology of an acute respiratory illness early in the work-up and management. All adult patients shall be evaluated through the Emergency Department (ED) as an undiagnosed acute reparatory illness (URI). The included patient cohort must present with SIRS criteria and be ill enough to require immediate blood draw and management by the ED. Excluded are any URIs with a predetermined diagnosis or subjects presenting with illness not determined to be a URI as a primary diagnosis. The experimental arm of the study shall have in addition to the standard of care labs and diagnostics, a novel protein array blood test that can distinguish bacterial from viral disease. The control group will not receive these results. The trial seeks to examine the difference in clinical outcomes when a adjunct biomarker than can help the clinician guide more accurate therapy is available early in the diagnostic workup. Benefits are defined in the primary and secondary outcomes as reduced resources expended through reduced laboratory, radiological, blood bank, and pharmaceutical expenditures. Comparative resource utilization costs include changes in hospital and or ED length of stay, lower follow up visits and readmissions, less inpatient and outpatient physician consultants and services called for to manage the patients care, and overall costs. Both primary and secondary outcomes will be used to categorize the costs and resources required to manage the patient. Primary objective is to evaluate overall changes in patient management and longer-term resource utilization between control and test arms, including (but not limited to) additional work-up (including other diagnostic tests and consults), antimicrobial treatments, disposition decisions and hospital length of stay (LOS). The exploratory objective is to evaluate changes between control and test arm in ED LOS, bounce backs (patients returning within 72 hours), work-up costs and the impact of physician seniority.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- RECRUITING
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 100
- Current disease duration ≤ 7 days
- Temperature ≥ 37.8°C (100°F) or tactile fever, noted at least once within the last 7 days
- Clinical suspicion of bacterial or viral respiratory tract infection (RTI)
- Blood tests are being ordered
- Systemic antibiotics taken up to 48 hours prior to presentation
- Outpatient steroids taken within 48 hours prior to presentation
- Suspicion and/or confirmed diagnosis of infectious gastroenteritis/colitis
- Inflammatory disease
- Congenital immune deficiency (CID)
- A proven or suspected infection on the presentation with Mycobacterial ,parasitic or fungal (e.g., Candida, Histoplasma, Aspergillus) pathogen
- Human immunodeficiency virus(HIV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), or Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection (self-declared or known from medical records)
- Major trauma and/or burns in the last 7 days
- Major surgery in the last 7 days
- Pregnancy - Self reported or medically confirmed
- Active malignancy - Cancer diagnosed within the previous six months, recurrent, regionally advanced, or metastatic cancer, cancer for which treatment had been administered within six months, or hematological cancer that is not in complete remission.
- Current treatment with immune-suppressive or immune-modulating therapies, at some point in the past 10 days
- Hemodynamically unstable (require life-saving interventions such as vasopressors)
- Patients transferred from another facility who already have a differentiated respiratory illness (known diagnosis e.g., culture positive results)
- Consider unsuitable for the study by the study team
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description MeMed BV® biomarker test and standard of care Usual care In addition to the standard of care for acute respiratory infections, the experimental arm shall reveal the results of the 'BV' test to the clinician co-investigators. The BV test reports a clinical score from 1-100 that as an adjunct to usual care, may help the clinician better direct appropriate resources towards the patient. Usual Care Usual care The co-investigators shall evaluate, diagnose and manage the acute respiratory infection presenting to the ED using the standard practice known in the community. This may include hospital sepsis practice protocols, clinical judgement, and national or local practice standards. MeMed BV® biomarker test and standard of care MeMed BV® biomarker test In addition to the standard of care for acute respiratory infections, the experimental arm shall reveal the results of the 'BV' test to the clinician co-investigators. The BV test reports a clinical score from 1-100 that as an adjunct to usual care, may help the clinician better direct appropriate resources towards the patient.
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Total cost of any antimicrobial treatments by a participant end of study (about 28 days from baseline) Comparative metric between the experimental and control groups
Cost of any additional diagnostic tests done by a participant from day of admission to emergency department upto about 28 day follow up Additional diagnostic tests may include serial complete blood count (CBC)s, additional blood cultures, viral cultures and serial basic metabolic panel (BMP) blood bank
Cost of any additional consults done by a participant from day of day of admission to emergency department upto about 28 day follow up Comparative metric between the experimental and control groups
Cost of hospital stay end of study (about 28 days from baseline) Total costs defined as all costs including lab and diagnostic services, blood bank, pharmaceuticals, nursing, consultants, and all other services listed in the patient's work-up. Comparative metric between the experimental and control groups
Number of participants that were admitted to the hospital end of study (about 28 days from baseline) Comparative metric between the experimental and control groups
Length of hospital stay at time of discharge( from 28 days- 6months from baseline) Comparative metric between the experimental and control groups
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Number of participants with medical interventions such as blood draws, consults and imaging used during the patient's time in the study end of study (about 28 days from baseline) Comparative metric between the experimental and control groups
Quality of care as determined by the number of acute respiratory ill patients with bacterial etiology that received appropriate antibiotics Within 1-3 hours of admission to emergency department Comparative metric between the experimental and control groups
Emergency room work-up costs at time of discharge from emergency department (upto about 48 hours form admission) Comparative metric between the experimental and control groups
Length of stay in emergency department at time of discharge from emergency department (upto about 48 hours form admission) Comparative metric between the experimental and control groups
Number of participants that had a bounce back as defined as patients returning any time during the 28-day call back period end of study (about 28 days from baseline) Bounce backs are defined as any return to a health care entity during the 28 day period after discharge from the index visit. Comparative metric between the experimental and control groups
Number of participants within the upper respiratory infection (URI) cohort without a bacterial source (viral, inflammatory, etc.) who appropriately did not receive antibiotics or whose antibiotic course was withheld during the patient's time in the study end of study (about 28 days from baseline) Comparative metric between the experimental and control groups
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
🇺🇸Houston, Texas, United States