The Electronic Asthma Action Plan System for Implementation in Primary Care (eAAPS)

September 10, 2019 updated by: Unity Health Toronto
Asthma is a common and potentially fatal chronic disease. An asthma action plan (AAP) is a written plan produced by a physician for a patient with asthma, to provide education and guidelines for self-management of worsening asthma symptoms. Studies have shown that AAPs effectively improve asthma control, but physicians fail to provide AAPs due to lack of time and adequate skills. Physicians also often fail to determine if their patients have good asthma control, and to adjust medications in response to patients' control level. The investigators propose to develop and test a computerized tool that will help physicians to determine if their patients' asthma is well controlled, advise them on medication changes required according to the current level of control, and automatically generate an electronic version of the AAP, all based on patient responses to a questionnaire. The investigators hope that this system will eliminate the barriers that physicians face in determining asthma control, adjusting medications, and delivering an AAP, and will increase the frequency with which physicians are able to achieve these goals in patients with asthma. The objectives of the study are to determine the impact of this system on asthma action plan delivery by primary care physicians, the frequency of checking control level, and the frequency and appropriateness of asthma medication changes (in accordance with control). We will also attempt to determine the impact of the system on hospitalisations, emergency room (ER) visits, unscheduled visits to the doctor, total visits to the doctor, days off work or school, nocturnal asthma symptoms, daytime asthma symptoms, daytime rescue puffer use, and quality of life, and to measure physicians' perceptions of and satisfaction with the system.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

This is a 2-year prospective interrupted time series (ITS) study of usual asthma care (baseline period) (year 1) compared to care with the eAAPS in place (intervention period) (year 2). The setting is two academic family health teams (primary health care teams including family physicians, nurses, and allied health members) in Hamilton, Ontario and one community-based family health team in Brampton, Ontario.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
19

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Brampton, Ontario, Canada, L6X 1N3
        • Wise Elephant Family Health Team
      • Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8N 3Z6
        • McMaster Family Health Team
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5B 1W8
        • St. Michael's Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

16 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Eligible physicians will include all primary care physicians at the 4 sites.

Eligible patients will include:

  • patients with asthma, as determined by a validated electronic chart record search algorithm for asthma and on an asthma medication [but not a Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) medication] within 1 year;
  • patients >/= 16 years of age who understand English

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnant patients will be excluded given that conventional AAP recommendations may not be appropriate in this population.
  • Any patient deemed to have cognitive limitations or a life expectancy of < 1 year

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Electronic Asthma Action Plan System
Electronic Asthma Action Plan System (eAAPS)
Other: Electronic Asthma Action Plan System
The electronic asthma action plan system consists of a tablet device in the physician waiting room which participants use to complete a simple questionnaire, a computerized clinical decision support system which then processes these data to produce a set of asthma care recommendations for the clinician, and finally, a printable asthma action plan that is given to patients, along with the URL for an asthma education website.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Participants to Whom an AAP (Asthma Action Plan) Was Delivered by the Clinician
Time Frame: 24 months
Number of eligible patients to whom an AAP was delivered by the physician during the intervention period (52 weeks) compared to the baseline period (52 weeks) Predictor model to include: clinic, appointment provider practitioner type, prior objective diagnosis of asthma, documented physician diagnosis of asthma, presenting complaint type, billing physician (most responsible physician/other), previous emergency department (ED) visits/hospitalizations for asthma, and current asthma control
24 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
The Impact of the eAAPS on Patient-relevant Outcomes Including Hospitalisations, Emergency Room Visits, Unscheduled & Total Visits to the Doctor, Days Off Work/School, Nocturnal/Daytime Asthma Symptoms, Daytime Rescue Bronchodilator Use & Quality of Life.
Time Frame: Every 2 weeks for 6 months
Every 2 weeks for 6 months
Asthma Control Assessment
Time Frame: 24 months

The number of patients with asthma control determined at least once, according to symptom-based criteria (control determination required meeting one or more criteria for uncontrolled asthma or all criteria for controlled asthma).

Predictor model to include: clinic, appointment provider practitioner type, prior objective diagnosis of asthma, documented physician diagnosis of asthma, presenting complaint type, billing physician (most responsible physician/other), previous emergency department (ED) visits/hospitalizations for asthma, and current asthma control
24 months
Medication Escalations
Time Frame: 24 months
The number of patients with escalation of controller therapy Predictor model to include: clinic, appointment provider practitioner type, prior objective diagnosis of asthma, documented physician diagnosis of asthma, presenting complaint type, billing physician (most responsible physician/other), previous emergency department (ED) visits/hospitalizations for asthma, and current asthma control
24 months
Appropriate Medication Changes
Time Frame: 24 months
Number of eligible visits in which patients who had an appropriate medication change made (i.e. escalation for poor control, and de-escalation for good control, when ascertainable)
24 months
On Treatment Analysis
Time Frame: During the 12 month intervention period
Number of eligible patients to whom an asthma action plan (AAP) was delivered, when decision support was available (52 weeks), counting only intervention period visits in which patients completed the questionnaire before the appointment and the notification prompted clinicians to open the computerized clinical decision support system (CDSS) to take action
During the 12 month intervention period
Number of Practitioners Completing Feedback Questionnaires
Time Frame: 13 months
Number of practitioners completing feedback questionnaires on the system (delivered in the 1 month after end of intervention period)
13 months
Ratio of Rescue to Controller Medication Prescriptions
Time Frame: 24 months
Ratio of rescue to controller medication prescriptions made during baseline vs intervention periods
24 months
Adherence Discussions
Time Frame: During the 12 month intervention period
The number of patients in the intervention period in whom discussions about medication adherence took place
During the 12 month intervention period
System Uptake
Time Frame: During the 12 month intervention period
Actual usage of the system: number of patients for whom clinicians accessed the CDSS when actions were required
During the 12 month intervention period

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Unity Health Toronto

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Samir Gupta, MDCM, Unity Health Toronto

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
July 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
August 1, 2014

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
August 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
February 16, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 16, 2010

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
February 17, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
September 13, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 10, 2019

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
September 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 10-052

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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