Improving Outcomes Using Collaborative Group Clinics to Empower Older Patients (EPIC)

February 27, 2020 updated by: Aanand Naik, Baylor College of Medicine

Improving Outcomes for Multiple Morbidities Using Collaborative Group Clinics to Empower Older Patients

The purpose of this study is to determine if group clinics help older veterans change behaviors with the goal of improving diabetes outcomes.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Among persons aged 55-84 years, over 65% have one to three common medical conditions (e.g., hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, stroke, heart disease, etc.). Fortunately, large randomized clinical trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of treatment and prevention strategies for many chronic conditions (e.g., dietary modification and medications for hypertension, intensive glucose monitoring with diet and medication regimens for diabetes, etc.). Despite the significant findings from numerous clinical trials, most older persons continue to suffer from uncontrolled hypertension, hyperglycemia, and other predictors of poor health outcomes. Non-compliance with clinical guidelines by providers (i.e. clinical inertia) and non-adherence to doctors' recommendations are typically blamed for these unacceptably poor outcomes. For older adults with several conditions, the processes of patient-clinician collaboration are not well understood. Goal-setting behaviors may improve health care by linking desired outcomes (i.e., reduce risk of heart attacks) to the goals of care (i.e., salt restriction for hypertension control). Furthermore, the process of goal-setting may be more effective if patients internalize the importance of a particular goal and prioritize that goal among multiple clinical problems (i.e., hypertension care for patients with diabetes.

Effective methods of implementing collaborative goals and training patients to negotiate shared goals and goal-directed behaviors with their clinicians have been developed for diabetes control. The effectiveness of these methods may be enhanced through the use of clinics that enroll small groups of subjects with rapid follow-up for several weeks. Group clinics have demonstrated improved outcomes for common chronic conditions. Evidence demonstrating the synergistic benefit of efficient group clinics and collaborative goal-setting is limited. However, an approach combining these methodologies may provide an improved method of rapidly controlling multiple chronic conditions and maintaining control of those chronic conditions over a prolonged time period.

To address the gap in the implementation of effective and efficient medical care, we will develop and test a model of collaborative group clinics that empowers older patients to adopt goal-setting behaviors, increases communication with their health care provider, and improves their diabetes-related outcomes. The objectives are to use a collaborative group clinic to: 1) Improve diabetes process of care outcomes over a 3 month time period; 2) Significantly improve the maintenance of diabetes process of care improvements over a 12 month time period; and 3) Significantly improve use of self-management behaviors for diabetes care.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

129

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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

50 years to 90 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of diabetes and hypertension
  • HgA1C value greater than or equal to 7.5
  • Creatinine value less than or equal to 2.0mg/dl
  • SBP greater than or equal to 140

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Prior diagnoses of dementia using ICD-9 codes validated for a VA population

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: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Group Clinic
Patients in Group Clinic arm will meet every 3rd week for 12 weeks, for a total of 4 visits. At each visit, BP will be measured, home BP and glucose measurements collected. Each visit will include group-based education and feedback sessions, with an individualized process of selecting and modifying process of care goals for systolic BP, H1C, and LDL cholesterol. Short-term health behavior change goals will also be discussed.
Collaborative group clinics to empower older patients to adopt goal-setting behaviors with their health care providers and improve their diabetes-related outcomes.
Other Names:
  • Diabetes Group Clinic
  • Goal-setting Clinic
Placebo Comparator: Uusual Care
Older diabetes patients will attend regular clinician visits and one targeted primary care physician visit during the 12 weeks post-enrollment. They will be enrolled in a diabetes education class. Blood pressure, H1C and lipids will be measured at enrollment, 6 weeks , and 12 weeks.
Standard of care for diabetes patients
Other Names:
  • Diabetes usual care

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in systolic blood pressure; change in Hemoglobin A1C; change in low density lipoprotein
Time Frame: 12 months
Change in systolic blood pressure; change in Hemoglobin A1C; change in low
12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Attainment of benchmark levels for SBP, A1C, LDL; self-management performance (self-report); completion of group clinic
Time Frame: 12 months
Attainment of benchmark levels for SBP, A1C, LDL; self-management
12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Aanand D Naik, MD, Baylor College of Medicine

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

April 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2008

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 31, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 31, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

June 1, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 2, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 27, 2020

Last Verified

October 1, 2009

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • H-20437
  • 7U18HS016093 (U.S. AHRQ Grant/Contract)

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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