e-CHAMP: Enhancing Care for Hospitalized Older Adults With Memory Problems

April 11, 2016 updated by: Malaz Boustani, MD, MPH, Indiana University

Enhancing Care for Hospitalized Older Adults With Cognitive Impairment

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a cognitive screening program coupled with a computerized decision support system in improving the quality of care for hospitalized older adults with cognitive impairment.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

A growing body of evidence demonstrates that older patients with cognitive impairment (CI) who are hospitalized for the management of their medical illnesses are especially vulnerable to hospital acquired complications such as falls, injuries, pressure ulcers, restraints, and delirium. These complications contribute to mortality, poorer functional status, limited rehabilitation, prolonged length of stay, increased institutionalization, and higher health care costs. Evidence suggests that interdisciplinary geriatric inpatient services improve care for hospitalized older adults without CI; however, their effectiveness among older adults with CI is less clear. One reason may be the ever-quickening pace of care in the hospital setting. Thus, matching geriatric evaluation and recommendations to the true pace of hospital care may be one mechanism to improve the care of older adults with CI.

A recent report from the Institute of Medicine suggested that integrating information technology (IT) into health care is the best route to improve the overall safety and quality of the health care system. The hypothesis of this study is that missed, delayed, post-hoc, and incomplete implementation of the geriatric service-based recommendations are significant factors explaining the poor outcomes among hospitalized older adults with cognitive impairment (CI). Wishard Memorial Hospital's physicians are already using a Computerized Decision Support System (CDSS), developed by the Regenstrief Institute, to guide their medical services. For this study, the content of this CDSS will be modified to the special needs of older adults with CI. A major advantage of such a system is reducing the time to implementation of geriatric recommendations with a specific focus on preventing the initiation of potentially harmful medications and procedures during the critical first 48 hours of hospitalization.

A total of 400 patients with cognitive impairment who have been hospitalized in a medical ward will be recruited for this study. Patients will be randomized to receive either standard care or the proactive screening program for CI combined with the modified CDSS. The electronic medical record for all patients will be reviewed for prescriptions for potentially inappropriate medications, urinary catheters, or physical restraints during the first 24 hours and the entire hospital stay. Medical records will be used to determine the total number of hospital acquired complications that may be related to CI; these include falls, injuries such as pulling out IV lines or urinary catheters, pressure ulcers, and new-onset delirium episodes that developed during hospitalization. Also, the time elapsed between screening for CI and the physician ordering a geriatric consultation will be calculated using the electronic medical record.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

424

Phase

  • 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

    • Indiana
      • Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, 46202
        • Wishard Memorial 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

Ages Eligible for Study

65 years and older (Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 65 years of age or older
  • Hospitalized in a medical ward
  • Able to speak English
  • Cognitive impairment based on screening at time of hospital admission

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Previously enrolled in the study during prior hospitalization (for multiple admissions; only data from the first admission will be used)
  • Enrolled in another clinical trial
  • Does not have cognitive impairment based on screening at time of hospital admission

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
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 1
Cognitive screening plus Computerized Decision Support System: proactive screening program for cognitive impairment combined with computerized review of the electronic medical record
Other Names:
  • CDSS
Active Comparator: 2
Standard care for hospitalized older patients with cognitive impairment

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Use of potentially inappropriate medications, urinary catheter or physical restraints, and length of time in initiating a referral order, as recorded in the electronic medical record
Time Frame: baseline and at discharge
baseline and at discharge
Total number of hospital acquired complications recorded in the medical record that may be related to cognitive impairment (CI)
Time Frame: baseline and at discharge
baseline and at discharge

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Length and cost of hospital stay from discharge records and billing system
Time Frame: baseline, at discharge, 6 months post-discharge
baseline, at discharge, 6 months post-discharge

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Malaz Boustani, MD, MPH, Regenstrief Institute, Inc.

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

June 1, 2006

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2008

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 9, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 9, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

September 16, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 13, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 11, 2016

Last Verified

April 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IA0077
  • K23AG026770 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • K23AG026779-01

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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