Improving Care for Nursing Home Pneumonia in NHCUs and Veterans' Homes

April 6, 2015 updated by: US Department of Veterans Affairs
Nursing Home Acquired Pneumonia (NHAP) causes excessive morbidity, mortality, hospitalization, and loss of function. At any given time, 1.1-2.5% of veterans who reside at nursing home care units (NHCUs) and State Veterans Homes (SVHs) are ill with pneumonia. Multi-faceted implementation of evidence-based guidelines has been shown to be feasible in the private sector. Retrospective studies demonstrate an association between guideline adherence and improved survival.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Background:

Nursing Home Acquired Pneumonia (NHAP) causes excessive morbidity, mortality, hospitalization, and loss of function. At any given time, 1.1-2.5% of veterans who reside at nursing home care units (NHCUs) and State Veterans Homes (SVHs) are ill with pneumonia. Multi-faceted implementation of evidence-based guidelines has been shown to be feasible in the private sector. Retrospective studies demonstrate an association between guideline adherence and improved survival.

Objectives:

Assess the feasibility of a QUERI-like strategy to translate the guidelines into practice at VA-affiliated nursing homes through focus groups, interviews, and a small intervention trial.

Methods:

Nursing staff focus groups, key informant interviews, and tests of academic detailing (educational outreach) scripts were conducted at five facilities. Based on the information gathered, the QUERI-like intervention was modified and tested at the Florence, Colorado SVH during one influenza season compared to no intervention at a nearby SVH. Forty random SVH nursing staff took an anonymous telephone survey of knowledge and attitudes about NHAP twice prior to the intervention. A second randomly selected group of CNAs and nurses took the survey after the intervention. Research assistants enrolled residents with NHAP, interviewed them and their nurses about their quality of life, assessed their function and reviewed their medical records. The intervention was multifaceted, including (1) a formative phase to tailor implementation and foster staff investment in process and outcomes, (2) institutional level change to facilitate immunization and use of appropriate antibiotics and tests; (3) interactive educational sessions to improve nursing assessment; and (4) academic detailing to physicians to impact diagnostic and prescribing practices. Data were analyzed by Template Analysis Technique for qualitative data; test-retest reliability of the knowledge and attitude survey; exploratory bivariate comparison of intervention delivery and uptake, process of care and outcomes between the intervention and control facilities.

Status:

Project work is ongoing.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

100

Phase

  • Phase 2

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

    • District of Columbia
      • Denver, District of Columbia, United States, 80220
        • VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Denver, CO

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

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Residents of Florence and Walsenburg, Colorado State Veterans Homes

Exclusion Criteria:

Residents within 48 hours of death or if in facility < 5 days

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: Prevention
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Arm 1

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Evelyn A. Hutt, MD, VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Denver, CO

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

November 1, 2004

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2005

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2005

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 1, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 1, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

July 14, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 7, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 6, 2015

Last Verified

February 1, 2007

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IIR 03-123

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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