Fever Observational Study

An Observational Study of the Epidemiology of Fever Due to Infection in Critically Ill Children Following an Unplanned Admission to a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit

To inform the feasibility of conducting a study to test different temperature thresholds at which clinicians deliver interventions to reduce fever (i.e. antipyretic interventions) in critically ill children with fever due to infection.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Detailed Description

Fever (high temperature) is a normal bodily response to an infection, which has shown to have a beneficial effect in humans with chickenpox, malaria and rhinovirus infections. In children it has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence not to cool down the child using drugs or physical methods such as a cooling mat, with the sole aim to reducing the child's temperature. However, this recommendation is not aimed at the management of critically ill children, to which there is uncertainty around use of cooling interventions when considering the advantages of a fever in defending the body against viruses and bacteria during critical illness, and weighing that up with the possible negative physiological consequences of a high fever e.g. increased metabolic rate.

Observational studies show that the treatment of fever in critically ill children is inconsistent. There is a lack of robust data to guide antipyretic intervention, with clinicians usually starting fever management at around 37.5°C. Evidence is emerging that fever may be beneficial in critically ill adults. Due to the physiological differences between adults and children there is an important need to evaluate whether a different approach to fever management in critically ill children may also be beneficial.

Prior to conducting a large, expensive, randomised clinical trial (RCT) to evaluate whether a higher temperature threshold in starting treatments to cool down the child would be beneficial, we are conducting three studies to know if it is possible for us to test key outcome measures as a result of testing different temperatures thresholds for antipyretic management.

The Fever Observational Study is one of these studies, with the aim of identifying: the potential population that would be eligible for the proposed definitive trial, current temperature threshold(s) for fever management, and to describe the characteristics of outcome measures with the intention of deciding on a main measure to see which treatment method was more successful.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Anticipated)

3960

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

      • London, United Kingdom, WC1V 6AZ
        • Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre

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

Ages Eligible for Study

No older than 15 years (CHILD)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

All unplanned admissions to a PICU

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

unplanned PICU admission referral requiring PICU admission to a participating unit

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

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
To determine the number of patients who meet the eligibility criteria for a proposed definitive trial.
Time Frame: Baseline
Baseline
Temperature thresholds currently employed in at least 20 paediatric intensive care units (PICU) in the UK
Time Frame: First 5 calender days
First 5 calender days
Length of ventilation - mean (standard deviation)
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 2 days
Through study completion, an average of 2 days
Length of PICU stay - mean (standard deviation)
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 2 days
Through study completion, an average of 2 days
PICU mortality - number (percentage)
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 2 days
Through study completion, an average of 2 days
Hospital mortality - number (percentage)
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 2 days
Through study completion, an average of 2 days
Days of organ specific support - mean (standard deviation)
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 2 days
Through study completion, an average of 2 days

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Collaborators

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Mark Peters, MBChB, PhD, Institute of Child Health

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.

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 (ANTICIPATED)

February 1, 2017

Primary Completion (ANTICIPATED)

July 1, 2017

Study Completion (ANTICIPATED)

August 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 13, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 19, 2017

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

January 23, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

January 23, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 19, 2017

Last Verified

January 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRAS 209929

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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